This area of law is still one where some uncertainty reigns. More about this under the title of Charitable Trusts . If a settlor creates a trust with all three certainties accounted for, but refuses to transfer the property to the trustee, then there is no trust. If so, the trust is enforceable against the settlor, who can be forced to transfer the property of the trust or pay substantial damages to either the trustee or the beneficiary. The acceptable mode of transfer depends on the type of property in question.
Land usually has rigid legal rules of registration and official changes to land titles.
If the property is chattel , they are simply handed over. For patents, shares or other securities, written documents may be required. 499 is an interesting case. The settlor gave share certificates and completed share transfer forms to the trustee but in order for the transfer to be complete, the transfer had to be endorsed and entered in the company's books. These latter two steps only occurred after the settlor's death.