Posted On: March 4, 2010
Trusts and Consideration (why $10?)
I got this question twice in one day, so that's probably a sign from someone that I should answer it: Why do trust documents typically recite that the trust creator (sometimes known as the grantor) has transferred $10 (or some other sum) to the trustee?
The answer is that a trust cannot exist without assets. The trust must contain something (known as the trust corpus) in order to be a valid trust. Of course, this is a bit of a silly rule, especially when the grantor and the trustee are the same person. Do you take $10 from one pocket and put it into a different pocket?
