A trust is a legal relationship whereby property interests are held by one person for the benefit of others. The property can be money, real estate, stocks, bonds, business interests, or any personal possessions.
Think of a trust as an agreement between the grantor and the trustee. The grantor makes certain property available to the trustee and the trustee agrees to manage the property in the way the grantor wants.
There are at least a dozen kinds of trusts, so seeking the advice of an attorney would enable you to choose the one that best fits your needs. For example, a Totten Trust is not actually a trust, but rather a bank account that passes to a beneficiary immediately upon your death.
Trusts aren’t for everyone, but they can be useful in certain situations. You can protect your beneficiaries from their own inexperience with money management by giving only the income from the investment and not the property itself until the beneficiary reaches a certain age.