In Bristol, Rhode Island, a trust is a setup under which property is possessed by one person or entity, to be used for the benefit of another.
A trust can be set up for just about any reason. One of the most prevalent reasons is to ensure that a person perpetually has enough money to avoid going broke, but not enough that they can avoid getting a job, or spend all of the money on things they don't need. This can be accomplished by drafting a trust agreement so that only permits the beneficiary to access a limited portion of the money per week, or per month.
Regardless of the purpose for which you're establishing a trust, you can be sure that the beneficiary will only be able to spend the trust fund in ways you approve of. This is because a trust document, at the time of drafting, can place any restrictions or allowances you want on the beneficiary's use of the money. Thus, if you want them to only be able to spend it on education, for example, you can do that.
If you want, you could establish 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 easily spend all the money on some pretty frivolous stuff.
What to Include in Any Bristol, RI Trust
There are 4 things that have to be present in every trust for it to be valid in Bristol, Rhode Island. First, the trust must have a stated purpose. Whatever purpose you intend the trust to serve, you should make it quite clear when drafting the document.
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.
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 clearly identified, or must be identifiable at some point in the future that can be objectively defined.
Lastly, the trust needs to truly be composed of something. A trust document must name the money or property which is directly being held in trust, which is identified as the "corpus" or "body" of the trust.
Can A Bristol, Rhode Island 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 intricate. For that reason, a good Bristol, Rhode Island attorney specializing in estate planning and the drafting trusts may prove invaluable.
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