In Hamilton County, Tennessee, a trust is a setup under which property is possessed by one person or entity, to be used for the benefit of another.

Trusts can serve any number of purposes. They can be set up to ensure that the child has a college fund, or to see that the beneficiary's basic needs are met, without the money being spent 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 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 totally feasible.

Of course, the trust could also be set up to allow the beneficiary unfettered access to the fund, or a certain 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 Hamilton County, TN Trust

To create a valid trust in Hamilton County, Tennessee, 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.

Third, the trust needs to have a named beneficiary. The beneficiary is the person who benefits from the trust.

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

Can A Hamilton County, Tennessee Trust Drafting Attorney Help?

While its' easy to list the basic elements that need to be present for a trust to be valid, the actual process of setting up a trust can be a little complicated. For that reason, seeking the counsel of a good Hamilton County, Tennessee attorney to help you set up a trust is probably a good idea.