In Portsmouth, Virginia, a trust is a particular method of managing property for the benefit of another person. A trustee is able to possess and, to some extent, control the property. However, the property is owned by the beneficiary, the person for whose benefit the property is being used.
Trusts serve a number of purposes. For example, they can be set up to ensure that the beneficiary (say, a child) will consistently have enough money to live off of, but will be unable to spend it all on frivolities.
If you are a trustee, you can authorize the beneficiary to access the trust under any conditions you see fit (or make it unconditional, if you want). The point is that, if you make sure the trust agreement is well-constructed, you can help the beneficiary in any way you like, secure in the knowledge that they won't be able (or will find it extremely difficult) to spend it on things you don't approve of.
Because you, as the trustee, can determine the rules under which the trust operates, you could give the beneficiary the right to access the fund at any time, for any reason, basically letting them do whatever they want with the money, if that's what you want to do.
What to Include in Any Portsmouth, VA Trust
There are 4 distinct elements that must be present for any trust to be valid in Portsmouth, Virginia. The first element is the purpose - in drafting a trust document, the purpose that the trust is serving must be stated.
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.
Third, there must be a named beneficiary. This is the person, persons, or entity who is really benefiting from the trust. This person or entity must be clearly identified, or must be identifiable at some point in the future that can be objectively defined.
Fourth and finally, the trust must include what is known as the "corpus" or "body." The corpus is the money and/or property which is being held in trust. For a trust to be valid, the corpus must be clearly identified.
Can A Portsmouth, Virginia 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 convoluted. For that reason, seeking the counsel of a brilliant Portsmouth, Virginia attorney to help you set up a trust is probably a good idea.
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