In broad terms, a trust is an arrangement where the owner of property ("the settlor") transfers it to the ownership of another person ("the trustee"), on condition that the trustee uses the property only for the benefit of others ("the beneficiaries").
A trustee is any person or organization that holds the legal title of an asset or group of assets for another person, called the grantor. A trustee is granted this legal title through a trust in which the they hold title to the assets held in trust for the benefit of others.
During the term of the trust, the trustee has the power to perform, without court authorization, every act which a prudent person dealing with the property of another would perform for the purposes of the trust.
Question: Can a trustee of a trust that owns an interest in a company be a beneficial owner? Answer: Yes. A trustee of a trust or similar arrangement may exercise substantial control over a reporting company.
The trustee of a trust can be an individual/family member, multiple individuals, or a corporate entity such as a bank or trust company. Typically, the person who creates the trust (the grantor) may act as the initial trustee, particularly in a revocable living trust.
A beneficial owner of a reporting company (as any entity required to file a BOI report is called) is defined as any individual who, directly or indirectly, either exercises substantial control over a reporting company or owns or controls at least 25 percent of the reporting company's ownership interests.
A trustee must abide by the trust document and the California Probate Code. They are prohibited from using trust assets for personal gain and must act in the best interest of the beneficiaries. Trust assets are meant for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries and not for the personal use of the trustee.
Generally speaking, once a trust becomes irrevocable, the trustee is entirely in control of the trust assets and the donor has no further rights to the assets and may not be a beneficiary or serve as a trustee.
Being a trustee is also a role that can be quite time consuming, more so than most people assume. Depending on the nature of the estate, being a trustee can require quite a few hours, which can be hard to come by if the trustee also has a full-time job, a family, and/or other obligations.
Under California Probate Law, a trustee generally has the authority to sell trust assets without obtaining approval from all beneficiaries. More importantly, it is recommended that trustees seek consensus and secure written agreements. This will help alleviate disputes or legal challenges.
A trustee typically has the most control in running their trust. They are granted authority by their grantor to oversee and distribute assets according to terms set out in their trust document, while beneficiaries merely reap its benefits without overseeing its operations themselves.
When they pass away, a successor trustee takes control of your trust. Furthermore, let's assume that you were also the trustee of a revocable trust. In this case, the successor trustee will take over the duties of the trustee, thus taking your place in terms of trust management.
A trustee is responsible for holding the legal title to a property until the trustor's mortgage loan is paid off in full. This is called holding the property in trust for the mortgage lender. The trustee takes on some risk, as they are partly responsible for the loan repayment if the trustor defaults on the loan.
In essence, while both roles are powerful within their domains, trustees often have more enduring and autonomous control over the assets they manage.
He or she is responsible for managing and administering the finances of a Trust per the instructions given. Often, the person who creates the Trust is the Trustee until they can no longer fill the role due to incapacitation or death.
While trustees may temporarily be able to delay trust distributions if a valid reason exists for them doing so, they are rarely entitled to hold trust assets indefinitely or refuse beneficiaries the gifts they were left through the trust.
The trustee is the person (or people) who holds legal title to the property that is in the trust. The trustee's job is to manage the property in the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries in the way the settlor has asked.
Selecting the wrong trustee is easily the biggest blunder parents can make when setting up a trust fund. As estate planning attorneys, we've seen first-hand how this critical error undermines so many parents' good intentions.
Ultimately, trustees can only withdraw money from a trust account for specific expenses within certain limitations. Their duties require them to comply with the grantor's wishes. If they breach their fiduciary duties, they will be removed as the trustee and face a surcharge for compensatory damages.
A trustee can end up having to pay taxes out of their own personal funds if they fail to take action on behalf of the estate in a timely way. Of course, they can also face criminal liability for such crimes as taking money out of a trust to pay for their own kids' college tuition. Yup, that's stealing.
No, a trustee does not have the authority to change the terms of a will. A will is a legal document that becomes irrevocable upon the death of the individual who created it. However, in certain situations, a will can be contested in court.
In some cases, a trustee can be a beneficial owner of a trust if they also stand to personally benefit from how the assets are managed.
Beneficial ownership information refers to identifying information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company. [Issued March 24, 2023]
The owner at law may not be the same person as the beneficial owner. A beneficial owner is a person entitled to the benefit of the land and on their death the equitable interest may not pass in the same way as the legal ownership does.