By Jonathan Curshen -
A trust may be created for any purpose that is not illegal or void as against public policy. A trust can hold title to and invest in real estate, cash, stocks, bonds, negotiable instruments and personal property. Trusts can provide care for minor children or the elderly; or pay medical, educational or other expenses. A trust can provide financial support in an emergency, for retirement, during marriage or divorce or even carry out premarital agreements.
To the uninformed, the trust process may seem complex and difficult, but in fact a trust is one of the most flexible yet efficient legal mechanisms recognized by law. Compared to the alternatives, it can provide superior asset protection and can assure your bounty will be distributed exactly as you see fit.
A Long History
One reason the trust is such a secure asset protection vehicle is because it has been used, refined and accepted over many centuries. Trusts developed under the English common law, first arising from cases decided in equity courts and later enhanced by trust statutes. Today the trust is a legal concept universally known and recognized in the United Kingdom, all British Commonwealth nations and the United States.
By comparison, the other major legal system used among nations, known as the civil law system, originated in the Roman empire and later was modernized by the French Code Napoleon. Civil law is used throughout continental Europe and its former colonies. It is derived from statutes with court precedents playing a more limited role. However, because the trust is so useful some civil law countries have adopted laws that authorize the equivalent of common law trusts, but within a civil law framework.
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