Situations Calling for Trusts A trust for an Incompetent/Irresponsible or Immature Beneficiary A trust is a good way to allow the beneficiary to have the benefit of the property even though that individual may not be capable of managing the property. Even a completely normal 18 year old may not have the skill or experience to manage the trust property wisely - for example, would they use the money for education or to buy a fancy car? For many people with children, trusts are fundamental to their estate plan because they grant parents the ability to determine at what age the children will receive assets. Several Beneficiaries A prime example of this situation involves a family cabin where there are many users. It may be difficult or inefficient to divide and transfer each beneficiary's interest in the property and rely on each beneficiary to take some role in caring for the property. In this situation it is often best to create a trust and appoint a trustee or co-trustee in charge of managing the property. Keeping Property "In the Family" A trust can be useful in blended families where a spouse wants to provide for the other with a lifetime benefit of using the property, but wants the property to come back to his or her children upon the spouse's death. A trust can also be used when parents want to provide support for children and grandchildren, but do not want the assets transferred outside of the family. Managing Behavior Trusts can be used to encourage beneficiaries to behave in certain ways or limit what the beneficiaries can do with the Trust property, such as encouraging charitable contributions or preventing distributions or disinheriting a beneficiary if he or she engages in a behavior the individual establishing the Trust wants the beneficiary to avoid.