A trust is a legal tool you can use so that the property owner is different from the person who gets the benefit of the trust property.
A ‘trustee’ is someone who has the legal ownership of the property and controls it. A ‘beneficiary’ is someone who gets the benefit of the asset.
For example – husband and wife move their home (or part of their home depending on the type of trust) into a trust – husband and wife are the trustees (meaning that the trust owns the home now, but husband and wife own the trust).
Should husband or wife or both go into care the property cannot be touched as it is not legally owned by them – it is owned by the trust. Nothing can possibly affect the home while it is protected by the trust. Once both husband and wife eventually pass away the children or loved ones inherit everything that is in the trust – the home.
