A trust in Homewood, Illinois is a legal arrangement for the management of property by one individual, 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 individual, who benefits from the property.

Trusts serve a variety of purposes. For instance, they can be set up to ensure that the beneficiary (say, a child) will perpetually have enough money to live off of, but will be unable to spend it all on frivolities.

If you are a trustee, you can permit 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 very challenging) to spend it on things you don't approve of.

Because you, as the trustee, can decide the rules under which the trust operates, you could give the beneficiary the right to access the fund at any time, for any reason, essentially letting them do whatever they want with the money, if that's what you want to do.

What to Include in Any Homewood, IL Trust

To implement a legitimate trust in Homewood, Illinois, 4 elements must be present. The first element is purpose - the property being held in trust must be there for a reason. Your trust can serve just about any lawful purpose you can think of.

Second, the trust must further name a trustee. The trustee is the person who is truly going to administer the trust, and has possession and control of the property while it is the subject of the trust.

Third, the trust needs to have a named beneficiary. The beneficiary is the individual who benefits from the trust.

Lastly, the trust needs to have a corpus, or body. The "body" of the trust is the property that benefits the beneficiary, and that the trustee oversees. Obviously, there can be no trust without something being held in trust.

Can A Homewood, Illinois 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 confusing. For that reason, seeking the counsel of a reliable Homewood, Illinois attorney to help you set up a trust is probably a good idea.