A trust, specially if operative for several years is less probably to be legally challenged than a will, specially regarding the charge of mental incompetence so often used against will written late in life. To keep confidential the beneficial ownership of property. To hold property for those who cannot hold it for themselves, e.g. minors or bankrupts. To minimise taxation by means of the client divesting himself of income or assets in favour of the Trustee, who may be located in low or no tax jurisdictions. The trustees are under a strict legal obligation to carry out the precise terms of the trust.
Trustees can either be individuals or companies or even a combination of the two.
Generally they are a trusted friend, a professional financial manager or a bank with a trust department. The trust instrument or trust deed. The document in which the settlor's instructions are contained, is called the trust instrument or trust deed. It governs all future dealings by the trustees of the trust fund. Powers and duties of a trustee can be broad or narrow, according to the trust declaration, but should carefully reflect the grantor's intentions as to how the trust is to be used.