In Vancouver, Washington, a trust is a certain method of managing property for the benefit of another person. A trustee is able to possess and, to some extent, control the property. Nonetheless, the property is owned by the beneficiary, the person for whose benefit the property is being used.
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.
A trust can make as many or as few allowances as the person creating it wants. For instance, a trust could be set up which allows the beneficiary to spend the money on educational expenses, and nothing else.
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 Vancouver, WA Trust
There are 4 distinct elements that must be present for any trust to be legitimate in Vancouver, Washington. The first element is the purpose - in drafting a trust document, the purpose that the trust is serving must be articulated.
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 accountable 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. Nonetheless, if the person(s) meant to benefit from the trust do not yet exist, they can still be legitimate beneficiaries, as long as they are part of an identifiable class of people, and can be easily identified if they are born. For instance, you could set up a trust to benefit your grandchildren, even if you don't actually have any grandchildren yet.
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 Vancouver, Washington 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 Vancouver, Washington attorney experienced in estate planning can be invaluable.
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