A trust in Northport, New York is an arrangement under which property is possessed by one person, but used solely for the benefit of, and legally owned by, another.

You might want to set up a trust for a wide number of reasons. It can be set up to guarantee that a child will have money for college, for instance, and that the child will only be able to use the money for that purpose.

A trust can be set up to permit the beneficiary to access the money in it under any conditions the person making the trust wishes. For instance, the trust could be set up so the beneficiary can only use the money in it for education.

If you want, you could formulate a trust with no restrictions on how much money the trustee can spend from the trust, and let the beneficiary spend all the money on whatever they'd like. If this is what you want to do, that's fine- but if the beneficiary is a young adult with spendthrift habits, you obviously might want to take into consideration the fact that they could quickly spend all the money on some pretty frivolous stuff.

What to Include in Any Northport, NY Trust

To set up a legitimate trust in Northport, New York, 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, 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, there must be a named beneficiary. This is the person, persons, or entity who is truly 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, there must be some money or property which is directly 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. But, it must truly exist, and it must be identified.

Can A Northport, New York 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 complicated. For that reason, a Northport, New York attorney experienced in estate planning can be invaluable.