Trust Database
Compare trust structures by purpose, control, access, tax treatment, administration, and state-law considerations.
31 reference entries
A blind trust places investment control with an independent trustee and limits the beneficiary's knowledge or influence, but the label alone does not satisfy any particular public-ethics, securities, tax, or conflict rule.
Key idea: A truly qualified arrangement may require divestiture, independent management, and regulator approval under the applicable regime.
Read the complete guideA charitable lead trust pays charity first for a term or measured lives, then transfers the remainder to noncharitable beneficiaries; annuity and unitrust versions have different valuation and tax characteristics.
Key idea: A CLT reverses the order of interests in a CRT.
Read the complete guideA charitable remainder trust is an irrevocable split-interest trust that pays a qualifying noncharitable interest for a term or lives, with the remainder passing to charity; CRAT and CRUT payout designs differ.
Key idea: A CRT must satisfy statutory payout, duration, remainder-value, and administration requirements.
Read the complete guideA CRUT is a charitable remainder trust that pays a fixed percentage of annually revalued trust assets, so payments can rise or fall with value; permitted net-income variants add further rules.
Key idea: Annual valuation is intrinsic to the unitrust formula.
Read the complete guideA credit shelter trust is funded at the first spouse's death to use available exclusion and benefit family without ordinary inclusion in the surviving spouse's estate when designed and administered correctly.
Key idea: It is also called a bypass, family, or B trust in some plans.
Read the complete guideA directed trust divides traditional trustee functions among a directed trustee and one or more trust directors or advisers, such as separate investment, distribution, or family-business decision-makers.
Key idea: Titles and liability standards differ by state.
Read the complete guideA DAPT is a self-settled irrevocable trust formed under a state's statute that may protect a settlor-beneficiary from some future creditors if strict requirements are met; interstate, bankruptcy, fraudulent-transfer, and public-policy issues make outcomes uncertain.
Key idea: Only some states authorize self-settled spendthrift protection.
Read the complete guideA dynasty trust is a long-duration trust designed to hold and govern assets for multiple generations, often combining GST planning, beneficiary protection, and flexible fiduciary governance.
Key idea: Permitted duration depends on governing law and any rule against perpetuities.
Read the complete guideA family pot trust holds one common fund for several children or descendants so a trustee can respond to unequal needs before dividing the remainder at a specified event.
Key idea: Equal benefit does not require equal dollars at every moment.
Read the complete guideA firearms trust is a trust drafted to own and administer firearms under applicable federal and state law, including National Firearms Act procedures where relevant; it does not waive background checks, registration, transfer tax, possession limits, or local prohibitions.
Key idea: Federal rules distinguish NFA-regulated firearms from ordinary firearms.
Read the complete guideA generation-skipping trust is designed for beneficiaries two or more generations below the transferor, or other skip persons, with deliberate GST-tax allocation and distribution planning.
Key idea: A trust for grandchildren is not automatically GST-tax exempt.
Read the complete guideA GRAT is an irrevocable term trust in which the grantor keeps a fixed annuity and transfers remaining value to beneficiaries if asset performance exceeds the assumed federal rate and the structure succeeds.
Key idea: The remainder gift is valued at creation under statutory valuation rules.
Read the complete guideA grantor trust is an income-tax classification under which the grantor or another owner is treated as owning all or part of the trust; it does not by itself answer whether a gift is complete or assets are in the taxable estate.
Key idea: Income-tax ownership and transfer-tax ownership are separate analyses.
Read the complete guideAn IDGT is an irrevocable trust designed so a transfer can be complete for gift and estate tax while the grantor remains the income-tax owner; the 'defect' is intentional only in that tax-classification sense.
Key idea: Frequently paired with a gift and sale for a note, but neither step is automatic or risk-free.
Read the complete guideAn ILIT is an irrevocable trust designed to own or receive life insurance and manage proceeds, often seeking liquidity and exclusion from the insured's gross estate when ownership and administration rules are satisfied.
Key idea: Transferring an existing policy can trigger a federal three-year estate-inclusion rule.
Read the complete guideAn irrevocable trust is a broad category in which the settlor cannot simply reclaim or rewrite the arrangement at will; its tax, creditor, and control results depend on retained powers, beneficiary rights, funding, and governing law.
Key idea: Irrevocable does not mean unchangeable under every circumstance.
Read the complete guideA marital trust is a broad descriptive category for a trust designed to benefit a spouse; it is not one standardized tax classification, and only a trust that satisfies the applicable statutory terms and elections receives a federal or state marital deduction.
Key idea: The governing instrument may give the spouse mandatory income, discretionary principal, withdrawal rights, a power of appointment, or another defined interest; the label marital trust does not supply those rights.
Read the complete guideA noncharitable purpose trust holds property for a permitted purpose rather than ordinary human beneficiaries, typically requiring an enforcer and a state law that recognizes the purpose and duration.
Key idea: Recognition and permissible duration vary sharply.
Read the complete guideA pet trust sets aside property and enforceable care directions for one or more animals, usually for the animals' lifetimes, with a trustee managing funds and a caregiver providing daily care.
Key idea: Animals cannot own property directly.
Read the complete guideA pooled trust is administered by a nonprofit that maintains a separate subaccount for each beneficiary while pooling investment and administration; qualifying first-party subaccounts follow federal and state payback or retention rules.
Key idea: Joinder agreements and nonprofit master-trust terms control the subaccount.
Read the complete guideA QTIP trust can qualify property for the estate-tax marital deduction while requiring income for the surviving spouse and preserving the first spouse's control over the remainder, if statutory terms and the executor's election are satisfied.
Key idea: The surviving spouse generally must be entitled to all trust income at least annually during life.
Read the complete guideA QDOT can permit a marital deduction for qualifying property passing to a surviving spouse who is not a U.S. citizen, while imposing U.S.-trustee, withholding, security, and distribution-tax rules.
Key idea: The QDOT election is generally made on the decedent's estate-tax return.
Read the complete guideA qualified income trust is a narrow Medicaid eligibility device used in certain income-cap states to receive and route an applicant's income under required rules; it does not shelter assets or create discretionary family wealth.
Key idea: Availability and required language are state-specific.
Read the complete guideA QPRT transfers a qualifying residence to an irrevocable trust while the grantor retains use for a fixed term, reducing the value of the taxable remainder gift if statutory requirements are met.
Key idea: Death during the retained term can cause estate inclusion.
Read the complete guideA trust named as retirement-account beneficiary can be drafted to pass plan distributions out to a beneficiary (conduit) or retain them (accumulation), but qualification, payout timing, tax rate, protection, and beneficiary eligibility must be analyzed under current retirement law.
Key idea: A trust is not automatically a designated beneficiary for retirement-rule purposes.
Read the complete guideA revocable living trust is a lifetime management and transfer framework the settlor can usually amend or revoke while capable; it can support incapacity and avoid probate for properly funded assets, but it is not a stand-alone tax shelter.
Key idea: The settlor commonly serves as initial trustee and beneficiary.
Read the complete guideA spendthrift trust restricts a beneficiary's voluntary and involuntary transfer of an interest before distribution; it is usually a protective provision within another trust, not one uniform product.
Key idea: Protection generally is strongest while assets remain in a discretionary third-party trust.
Read the complete guideA SLAT is an irrevocable lifetime gift trust created by one spouse for the other spouse and often descendants, seeking to move assets outside the donor's estate while preserving indirect family access through discretionary distributions.
Key idea: The donor should not retain an enforceable right to trust property.
Read the complete guideA testamentary trust is created under a will and begins at death after the will is admitted and the trust is funded through estate administration.
Key idea: It does not avoid probate because the will is its source.
Read the complete guideA third-party special needs trust holds assets contributed by someone other than the beneficiary and gives a trustee discretion to supplement the beneficiary's life without assuming the trust is invisible to every benefit program.
Key idea: Third-party and first-party trusts are not interchangeable.
Read the complete guideA Crummey trust gives beneficiaries temporary, real withdrawal rights intended to make contributions present-interest gifts for annual-exclusion purposes; the rights, notices, funding, and trustee conduct must be genuine.
Key idea: The name comes from a judicial doctrine, not a separate statutory trust form.
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