A Revocable Living Trust, also called a Living Trust or a Family Trust is a legal entity that is created at the direction of an individual, in which one or more persons hold the individual’s property subject to certain duties to use and protect it for the benefit of others.
There are three major players in the trust context: Grantor or Trustor, Trustee and Beneficiary.
The Grantor, also known as Trustor, is the person or persons who create and transfer property to the trust.
The Trustee is the person in charge of managing trust assets in accordance with the terms of the trust agreement and the Beneficiary is the person who is intended to benefit from the trust assets.
The Grantor will dictate the circumstances under which the beneficiaries will get access to the trust assets, and can set any strings they want on who gets money and when they get it.
In the Revocable Living Trust context, the creator(s) of the trust are generally the Grantor, Trustee and Beneficiary when the trust is set up. The Grantors retain total management and control over their assets while they are alive and have the capacity to do so. During the Grantors lifetimes, the trust acts as their alter ego. The Trust does not have a separate taxpayer identification number and does not file a tax return. The Grantors can take distributions or make gifts at any time and for any purpose and can amend or terminate the trust at any time as circumstances change.
