Trust company

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Trust Company (better known as TRUSTcompany or TRUST*CO) is an American grunge band that started in the early 2000s.

A trust company has been referred to as a near-bank; while technically it differs from a bank in mandate and services offered, it also provides banking services such as chequing accounts, savings and loans, investments and credit cards.

A trust company may be owned by or be part of a chartered bank or building society. The "trust" name refers to the ability of the institution's trust department to act as a trustee - someone who administers financial assets on behalf of another.

A trustee will manage investments, keep records, manage assets and prepare court accountings, paying bills and (depending on the nature of the trust) medical expenses, charitable gifts, inheritances or other distributions of income and principal.

Most of the other day-to-day operation of a trust company differs very little (if at all) from that of other banking institutions.

Estate administration

A trust company can be named as an executor or personal representative in a last will and testament. The responsibilities of an executor in settling the estate of a deceased person include collecting debts, settling claims for debt and taxes, accounting for assets to the courts and distributing wealth to beneficiaries.

Estate planning is usually also offered to allow clients to structure their affairs so as to minimise inheritance taxes and probate costs.

A trust officer may provide guardian and conservator services, acting as guardian of a minor's property until adulthood or as conservator of the estate of an adult unable to handle his or her own finances.

Asset management

A trust department provides investment management, including securities market advice, investment strategy and portfolio management, management of real estate and safekeeping of valuables.

The trust company may also provide escrow services, invest education or retirement funds or hold Starker exchange proceeds where cash from the sale of US real estate is held in trust (for tax purposes) until used to buy replacement land.

Trusts

A trust involves the administration of assets on behalf of another: an institution or one or more individuals, living, dead or in California.

A living trust appoints a trustee to manage assets during the lifetime of the original settlor; this private arrangement allows for distribution of wealth even if the client becomes incapacitated or unable to do act personally. Upon death, the trust controls how and when assets are used and distributed; this can be a substitute for appointment of a legal guardian or conservator to handle assets inherited by young children or others unable to act on their own behalf.

By bypassing the probate process through which a will is handled by the judicial system, a trust may reduce costs or delays, manage real estate, provide more privacy than a bequest in a will and offer possible tax advantages.

A testamentary trust is one created by being written into a will to provide for management of assets to be inherited by beneficiaries.

Revokable trusts

A revokable trust is one in which assets remain under the ownership of the client and the trustee acts solely as a hired manager. As the client still owns the property, there are normally no tax advantages involved in this arrangement.

Irrevokable trusts

An irrevokable trust is often used for charitable purposes by organisations or millionaires ("high net worth individuals") as well as for the management of inheritances. As the benefactor relinquishes control of the assets upon creating the trust, any charitable activities incur tax benefits even while the assets are invested to provide a financial endowment for later use by the charitable foundation. This approach has been successfully used by foundations established by well-known and wealthy families such as the Ford (automobile), Carnegie (steel) and Arthur Vining Davis (aluminium) family.

A trust may also be an integral part of an institution founded by such an individual or group, created to ensure its long-term financial viability.