A trust in St Charles County, Missouri is an arrangement under which property is possessed by one person, but used always for the benefit of, and legally owned by, another.

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

If you want to set up a trust, you can make the beneficiary's use of the property as restricted or as permissive as you like. As a simple instance, you might want to dictate that the beneficiary can only use the money for emergencies, or for general living expenses. If the trust is thoroughly drafted, this is totally feasible.

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 allowing the beneficiary to spend as much of the money in it as they like, on anything. Of course, in such a case, the trust fund might not last very long, particularly if the beneficiary is a younger person.

What to Include in Any St Charles County, MO Trust

To set up a legitimate trust in St Charles County, Missouri, 4 elements are necessary. First, the trust must have a stated purpose, and this purpose must be precisely laid out in the documents that formulate the trust.

Second, every trust, to be valid, has to assign a trustee. This is the individual or other entity (such as a corporation) who oversees the property that embodies the trust. They possess and control the property, and are accountable for seeing that it is utilized according to the purpose of the trust.

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.

Fourth and finally, the trust must contain 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 legitimate, the corpus must be precisely identified.

Can A St Charles County, Missouri Trust Drafting Attorney Help?

While the elements of a valid trust are fairly simple and easy to memorize, drafting a trust that is likely to be carried out according to your wishes can be fairly difficult. For that reason, a St Charles County, Missouri attorney experienced in estate planning can be invaluable.