A trust in Chesterton, Indiana 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 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.

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 authorizes 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 permitting 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 Chesterton, IN Trust

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

The second required element is a trustee. The trustee's job is to supervise and manage the money that makes up the trust. They are also required to take reasonable efforts to ensure that the money is only used for the purpose of the original trust agreement.

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

Fourth and finally, there must be some money or property which is really going to be held in the trust. This property is referred to as the "corpus" (body) of the trust, and can be just about anything. However, it must really exist, and it must be identified.

Can A Chesterton, Indiana Trust Drafting Attorney Help?

While the elements of a valid trust are relatively 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 complex. For that reason, a good Chesterton, Indiana attorney specializing in estate planning and the drafting trusts may prove invaluable.