This is a sample of types.

Trusts come in a variety of forms and can be established in many different situations. Some common forms of Trusts include:

A charitable trust (designed to benefit part of all of the public) must be created for a charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purpose.

A spendthrift trust is a trust that is created for the benefit of a spendthrift who is paid income therefrom and that cannot be reached by creditors to satisfy the spendthrift’s debts. This type of trust prevents a beneficiary from using his/her trust funds imprudently by limiting the beneficiary’s rights to draw on trust funds and to transfer of the right to future payments.

A Totten Trust is created when one person deposits money in his or her own name in trust for another.

A Bypass Trust is a trust in which a spouse leaves his or her estate upon death to a trust naming the surviving spouse as beneficiary usually  with remainders to children or other descendants (called also bypass shelter trust, credit shelter trust, and shelter trust).  The purpose of a bypass trust is to reduce the surviving spouse’s taxable estate. Such trusts do not qualify for the marital deduction.

A Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust is a trust in which the named beneficiaries receive a fixed payment of not less than five percent of the fair market value of the original principal over the course of a specified period after which the remaining principal passes to charity.

A Charitable Remainder Trust is a trust in which individuals are named as beneficiaries to receive income for a period of time (as the lifetimes of the beneficiaries) after which the principal passes to charity. Charitable remainder trusts qualify for tax exemptions under Section 664 of the Internal Revenue Code.

A Charitable Remainder Unitrust is a trust in which the named beneficiaries receive  payments of a fixed percentage and not less than five percent of the value of the trust assets as determined annually for a specified period after which the remainder passes to charity.

A Clifford Trust is a trust lasting at least ten years with income payable to a beneficiary and principal reverting to the settlor upon termination. Prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1986, a Clifford trust could be used as a tax shelter that diverted income from the settlor, who was in a higher tax bracket, to a beneficiary, often a child, who was in a lower tax bracket. Under the current rules, the settlor is treated as the owner of any portion of a trust in which he or she has a reversionary interest, and therefore taxes are calculated at the settlor’s rate.

A Discretionary Trust is a trust that gives the trustee authority to exercise his or her discretion in distributing principal or income to the beneficiary.

A Generation-Skipping trust is a trust in which the principal will eventually go to a skip person usually following payment of income for life to a non-skip person.

A Grantor Trust  is a trust that is taxed at the settlor’s tax rate because the settlor has the power to control the beneficial enjoyment of the trust, retains a reversionary interest in the trust, has administrative powers over the trust, has the power to revoke the trust, or benefits from the income of the trust.

An Insurance Trust is a trust in which the principal consists of an insurance policy or its proceeds.

An Inter Vivos Trust is a trust that becomes effective during the lifetime of the settlor..

An Irrevocable Trust is a trust that cannot be revoked by the settlor after its creation except upon the consent of all the beneficiaries.

A Marital Trust is a testamentary trust naming a surviving spouse as the beneficiary.

A QTIP Trust  is a trust to which qualified terminable interest property is transferred for purposes of taking the marital deduction.

A Qualified Charitable Remainder Trust is a trust that is either a charitable remainder annuity trust or a charitable remainder unitrust.