A trust in Portage, Michigan 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.
You might want to set up a trust for a wide variety of reasons. It can be set up to ensure that a child will have money for college, for example, and that the child will only be able to use the money for that purpose.
A trust can be set up to allow the beneficiary to access the money in it under any conditions the person making the trust wishes. For example, the trust could be set up so the beneficiary can only use the money in it for education.
The trust can also be set up to allow the beneficiary to spend as much of the money in it on anything they like. Of course, few people do this, because the trust isn't likely to last very long under such an arrangement, especially if the beneficiary is a teenager or young adult.
What to Include in Any Portage, MI Trust
There are 4 things that have to be present in every trust for it to be valid in Portage, Michigan. 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 must also name a trustee. The trustee is the person who is actually going to administer the trust, and has possession and control of the property while it is the subject of the trust.
The third element is a beneficiary. The beneficiary is a person or entity who the trust is designed to benefit. Although a beneficiary has to be named, they don't actually have to exist at the time the trust is written. For instance, if a person sets up a trust to benefit his or her grandchildren, and doesn't yet have any, the trust is valid. If and when their grandchildren are born, the rights that the trust creates will vest in them immediately.
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 Portage, Michigan Trust Drafting Attorney Help?
While it's fairly easy to list off the basic requirements for a valid trust, actually creating and implementing one can be fairly complex. Therefore, you should probably seek the help of a Portage, Michigan attorney if you wish to set up a trust.