A trust is a three-party contract, a private legal agreement. The Trust is based upon the “Indenture,” which expresses the agreement between a person, (Grantor/Creator), who places assets in a Trust, and an individual, (Trustee), entrusted with, the protection, management, and ultimate distribution of the (Trust Corpus) assets for the person, (Beneficiaries), entitles to benefit from the assets and/or income held under the terms of the indenture.

Black’s Law 5th ed. lists more than 80 different and distinct types of legally recognized and acknowledged trusts.

The Trustee is the person into whose control the assets have been transferred. It is the duty of the Trustee to ensure that the instructions of the indenture are carried out and the beneficiary's interests protected.

A beneficiary is any person or persons or any other legal entity, including another Trust, has rights to future beneficial distributions according to the terms of the Trust Indenture.

A trust is different from a will in that a will is instructions for assets to be distributed after death. A Trust is a contract that contains instructions (the indenture) on how assets are to be handled while the Grantor/Creator is alive.

There are various reasons for considering a trust:  Asset protection, Business organization, Protection from liability, Avoidance of probate, Relief from high personal income taxes, to name a few.

There are certain benefits that cannot be realized with a single trust. The power and flexibility of trusts are fully realized with a system of interrelating trusts.