What is a Trust Protector & Why Every Trust Should Have One

The Protector is so useful, and it has become so commonplace, that the concept should almost always be discussed between planners and those looking to form trusts.

The concept of a “trust” is fundamentally very simple: One person holds legal title to an asset for another. If I transfer title of the family farm to you, and say, “Hold this land for the benefit of my family,” then a trust has been created.

Because the concept of the trust has expanded so greatly over the centuries, to where now large financial institutions often hold north of a billion dollars in trust, the concept has become daunting and lost its fundamental meaning for most folks. There are also myriad types of trusts: revocable and irrevocable trusts, grantor trusts, qualified trusts, lead trusts, life insurance and annuity trusts, unit trusts, and even the stupidly-named “intentionally defective trust”.