A trust in Paducah, Kentucky is a legal arrangement for the management of property by one person, for the benefit of another. In the simplest possible terms, if property is held in trust, it is possessed and controlled by one person, but it is technically owned by another person, who benefits from the property.

Trusts can serve any number of purposes. They can be set up to ensure that the child has a college fund, or to see that the beneficiary's basic needs are met, without the money being spent on frivolities.

A trust can make as many or as few allowances as the person creating it wants. For example, a trust could be set up which allows the beneficiary to spend the money on educational expenses, and nothing else.

A trust could, of course, be much more permissive, if the creator of the trust wants it to be. You could set up a trust allowing the beneficiary to spend as much of the money in it as they like, on anything. Of course, in such a situation, the trust fund might not last very long, especially if the beneficiary is a younger person.

What to Include in Any Paducah, KY Trust

There are 4 distinct elements that must be present for any trust to be valid in Paducah, Kentucky. The first element is the purpose - in drafting a trust document, the purpose that the trust is serving must be articulated.

Second, the trust needs a trustee. The trustee will have possession of the property or money that is being held in trust, and will be responsible for putting it to the use that the creator of the trust intended.

The third required element to make a valid trust is the beneficiary or beneficiaries. Because a trust, by definition, is set up to benefit someone or something, that entity must be identified in the trust. However, if the person(s) meant to benefit from the trust do not yet exist, they can still be valid beneficiaries, as long as they are part of an identifiable class of people, and can be easily identified if they are born. For example, you could set up a trust to benefit your grandchildren, even if you don't actually have any grandchildren yet.

Lastly, the trust needs to actually be composed of something. A trust document must name the money or property which is actually being held in trust, which is known as the "corpus" or "body" of the trust.

Can A Paducah, Kentucky Trust Drafting Attorney Help?

While its' easy to list the basic elements that need to be present for a trust to be valid, the actual process of setting up a trust can be a little complicated. For that reason, seeking the counsel of a good Paducah, Kentucky attorney to help you set up a trust is probably a good idea.