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

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.

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 example, you might want to dictate that the beneficiary can only use the money for emergencies, or for basic living expenses. If the trust is carefully drafted, this is entirely feasible.

Of course, the trust could also be set up to permit the beneficiary unfettered access to the fund, or a specific amount of money could be released from the fund to the beneficiary each month, for the beneficiary to use as he or she sees fit.

What to Include in Any Watervliet, NY Trust

To establish a valid trust in Watervliet, New York, 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 needs a trustee. The trustee will have possession of the property or money that is being held in trust, and will be responsible for putting it to the use that the creator of the trust intended.

The third required element to make a valid trust is the beneficiary or beneficiaries. Because a trust, by definition, is set up to benefit someone or something, that entity must be identified in the trust. However, if the person(s) meant to benefit from the trust do not yet exist, they can still be valid beneficiaries, as long as they are part of an identifiable class of people, and can be easily identified if they are born. For example, you could set up a trust to benefit your grandchildren, even if you don't truly have any grandchildren yet.

Finally, and perhaps most vitally, the trust requires a "body." The body of a trust is the thing (typically, but not always, money) that is directly being held in trust, and therefore overseen by the trustee, and used to help the beneficiary.

Can A Watervliet, 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 confusing. For that reason, a Watervliet, New York attorney specializing in estate planning can be invaluable.