Introduced into our law in 2007, the trust is a contract by which a settlor organizes a temporary transfer of ownership of present or future movable or immovable property to a trustee, for management or security purposes and for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries.
An excellent asset management tool in New Jersey, the trust contract is however strictly regulated by law and must comply with a strict formalism.
The objectives of the trust
According to our notary, any natural person of legal age and capacity and any legal entity may use a trust. The trust must be set up with the objective of administering and managing the patrimony or constituting a guarantee. We thus speak of a management trust or a security trust.
The conditions of the trust
The trust is limited in time, up to 99 years, but can be terminated earlier if the management objective is met. The contract must, under penalty of nullity, be concluded by a notarial act if it involves property belonging to a community between spouses or forming part of an undivided interest, and be published and registered with the tax authorities within one month of its signature..
A separate, creditor-proof estate
Under no circumstances can a trust constitute a gift. The property temporarily transferred under a trust agreement constitutes a separate patrimony from that of the trustee, who must fulfill the obligations entrusted to him. The trustee is therefore protected from the creditors of the latter, but also from those of the settlor. However, the settlor remains liable for the tax obligations relating to the property transferred. It may also be provided that the trustee retains the use of the property during the term of the contract
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The value of the trust in wealth management
On the one hand, the trust allows the implementation of a certain protection for vulnerable persons, i.e. sick, elderly or handicapped persons, by organizing the management and administration of their assets. The trust can complement a posthumous mandate, a method of organizing the management of assets after the beneficiary's death. Would you like to know more? The staff of the du Guesclin notary's office is at your disposal to provide you with their expertise in the field of inheritance and wealth management
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