This is the idea of a trust which has survived and prospered. The trustee is the one who holds title to the trust property, and the beneficiary is the person who receives the benefits of the trust. Many trusts are created as an alternative to or in conjunction with a will and other elements of estate planning.
State law establishes the framework for determining the validity and limits for both.
The Uniform Probate Code has shaped state law in this field. It includes provisions dealing with affairs and estates of the deceased and laws dealing with specified nontestamentary transfers, like trusts and their administration. The theory behind the Code is that wills and trusts are in close relationship and thus in need of unification. Since its creation, over thirty percent of states have adopted the Code substantially in whole. Since many individuals neither set up trusts nor execute wills, state intestate succesion laws are an important complement to trust and estate law.