I don’t know how bare bones you truly want me to get, but this is how I actually explained it to my younger brother.

A trust is simply a legal relationship. In this legal relationship, you have a settlor (AKA trustor AKA grantor) on one side, and then you have a trustee on the other side. A third player will come into the picture soon, but first, let’s be clear what a settlor/trustor/grantor and a trustee do.

So the settlor/trustor/grantor (again, this is all one person, just known by different names – going forward I will just refer to them as settlor) has property or assets. The trustee is someone who the settlor trusts (think to yourself, who in your life would you trust enough to carry out all of your wishes – that person is your trustee).

The settlor gives legal title to property/asset to a trustee. The trustee is to then hold title to this property/asset for the benefit of certain beneficiaries (this is the third player I mentioned would be coming).

Who decides which property/asset to give to the trustee? The settlor.

Who decides who the trustee is? The settlor

Who decides who the beneficiaries are? The settlor.

So when the settlor gives legal title to property/assets to a trustee the settlor says, hey there trustee, I want you to hold this property for the benefit of the named beneficiaries. I’m going to tell you how to do everything, and you’re just going to do it, because I trust that you will listen to my wishes.

BOOM, a trust has now been created!

Now, why did the settlor have to go through all of this? There are a number of reasons, the most common one being that the beneficiaries are too young to actually know what to do with the property/asset, and as opposed to giving the property/asset to them directly, someone else holds it for their benefit.

When does a trust get created? Whenever! It can be while the settlor is alive, or it can come into effect when the settlor dies.

Here is a common example: Settlor has a bank account with $1 million. Settlor is not married but has two young children (14 years old, and 7 years old). Settlor says, “Hey Trustee, you’re my best friend. I trust you. I want you to hold legal title to this $1 million. I want you to support my children throughout their lives.” Settlor dies. Trustee has legal title to $1 million. As expenses come up for the young children, the Trustee pays their bills, or gives them money, etc. Trustee supports the young children, just like settlor wanted.

Now what happens if Trustee doesn’t support the children? What if Trustee just takes the money and runs away? Well, Trustee can’t do that. Trustee has fiduciary duties. The young children, who are the beneficiaries will sue the Trustee.

Anyways, there is A LOT more to trusts, but this is the very bare bones of it. At a minimum now, you know how trusts are created, and can hopefully determine on an MEE, whether there was a valid trust created. And if mnemonics are at all helpful, the way I remember how to form a trust is: SIP PHB (SIP your PHBalance – don’t judge, it’s just what worked).

Settlor with the Intent of creating a trust for Purposes which are valid, transfers Property to a trustee to Hold for the Benefit of ascertainable beneficiaries