Trust

The equitable arrangement separating legal title from beneficial enjoyment

Overview

The trust splits ownership, giving a trustee legal title to manage for beneficiaries holding equitable interest, an invention of medieval Chancery that let crusaders and later families place property in stewardship. Trustees owe fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence enforced in equity, and the device now carries pensions, charities, mutual funds, and family wealth measured in trillions. Offshore uses made it a byword for asset concealment, spurring transparency law. It is routinely called the greatest contribution of equity to human institution building.