The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of law which governs the management of personal affairs and the disposition of property of an individual in anticipation of the event of such person's incapacity or death, also known as the law of successions in civil law. Its techniques are also used to fulfil the wishes of philanthropic bequests or gifts through the creation, maintenance and supervision of charitable trusts.

In some jurisdictions, such as the United States, it can overlap with the area that has come to be known as elder law that deals not only with estate planning but other issues that face the elderly, such as home care, long term care insurance or social security or disability benefits. There may also be overlap with areas of the law touching on End-of-life issues, not solely for the elderly, but also persons with terminal conditions.

Contents

• 1 Estates
• 2 Uses of trusts
• 3 Use of estates and trusts
• 4 See also

Noun

trust m. inv.

1. trust (group of people)

• trust di cervelli - brains trust

• Resources (2)

• Elder Law Lawyers@ (106)
• Estate Planning Lawyers@ (386)
• Organizations@ (1)

• Paralegal Services@ (7)
• Products@ (11)
• Weblogs (9)

• Business: Financial Services: Financial Planning (427)

• Planned Giving Design Center
  pgdc.com
  Providing planned giving specialists with resources they can use to advise clients and donors for advanced charitable gift planning.
• The Law Offices of Robert J. Mintz
  rjmintz.com
  A chapter on family limited partnerships from an estate attorney. Includes recent developments and case studies.
• Heritage Living Trust
  heritagelivingtrust.com
  Trust document preparation firm that specializes in liability, probate, estate taxes, and Medicaid protection through the use of, complex, contract, common law, and revocable living trusts.