If you are thinking about trusts, you need to be aware of the different types of trust which exist so that the right trust is set up for you and those you wish to benefit.
Trusts can be divided into several broad types.   These can be briefly summarised as;
Discretionary Trusts
A discretionary trust gives your trustees discretion to benefit a defined group of beneficiaries. The power to add beneficiaries to this group is often included in the trust.  As a beneficiary cannot benefit from the trust without the trustees deciding whether to benefit them and to what extent, this type of trust is good at protecting a beneficiary who might make bad decisions for themselves.    This type of trust is also suitable if you are unsure exactly who you might want to benefit from the trust or where you wish to allow maximum flexibility for tax planning reasons.
Disabled Persons Trusts
These are based upon a discretionary trust model as set out above but are specifically designed to benefit the disabled person.   Since this trusts give the trustees discretion as to when to benefit the disabled person rather than giving the disabled person an absolute right to the trust assets, the disabled person's entitlement to means-tested benefits is preserved.
Life Interest Trusts
These grant a beneficiary the right to income from trust assets (or the right to use the trust asset) but do not grant them a right to the capital value of the asset, although the trustees are commonly given a discretion to forward capital to the beneficiary if they consider it necessary.  These types of trust are often seen in wills where there is a second marriage or partnership and a person wishes to provide for their spouse/ partner whilst ultimately ensuring that the asset passes to their children (often the family home).
Bare Trusts
These are simple trusts, where a person holds an asset on behalf of another person until that person reaches the age of 18 and who can then take over management of the asset themselves.  The beneficiaries of these trusts have an absolute right to the trust asset which passes to them as soon as they reach the required age.  This type of trust is most commonly used to hold assets (often property) for minors until they come of age.