A trust in Williston, North Dakota is an arrangement under which property is possessed by one person, but used entirely for the benefit of, and legally owned by, another.

A trust can be set up for just about any reason. One of the most common reasons is to ensure that a person always has enough money to avoid going broke, but not enough that they can avoid getting a job, or spend all of the money on things they don't need. This can be accomplished by drafting a trust agreement so that only allows the beneficiary to access a limited portion of the money per week, or per month.

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

If you want, you could formulate a trust with no restrictions on how much money the trustee can spend from the trust, and let the beneficiary spend all the money on whatever they'd like. If this is what you want to do, that's fine- but if the beneficiary is a young adult with spendthrift habits, you obviously might want to take into consideration the fact that they could quickly spend all the money on some pretty frivolous stuff.

What to Include in Any Williston, ND Trust

There are 4 things that have to be present in every trust for it to be legitimate in Williston, North Dakota. First, the trust must have a stated purpose. Whatever purpose you intend the trust to serve, you should make it very clear when drafting the document.

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 accountable for putting it to the use that the creator of the trust intended.

Third, there must be a named beneficiary. This is the person, persons, or entity who is actually benefiting from the trust. This person or entity must be precisely identified, or must be identifiable at some point in the future that can be objectively defined.

Finally, 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 Williston, North Dakota Trust Drafting Attorney Help?

While the elements of a valid trust are fairly simple and easy to remember, drafting a trust that is sure to be carried out according to the wishes of the person making it can still be complicated. For that reason, a good Williston, North Dakota attorney experienced in estate planning and the drafting trusts may prove invaluable.