Family Trust Law and Legal Definition
A family trust is a trust created to benefit persons who are related to one another by blood, affinity, or law. It can be established by a family member for the benefit of the members of the family group. Family trusts acts as an instrument to pass on the assets to future generations.
Example of a state statute (South Carolina) defining Family trust
According to S.C. Code Ann. § 12-24-40, a “family trust" is a trust in which the beneficiaries are all members of the same family. "Family" means the grantor, the grantor's spouse, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, children, stepchildren, grandchildren, and the spouses and lineal descendant of any of them, and the grantor's and grantor's spouse's heirs under a statute of descent and distribution. A "family partnership" or "family trust" also includes charitable entities, other family partnerships and family trusts of the grantor, and charitable remainder and charitable lead trusts, if all the beneficiaries are charitable entities or members of the grantor's family.
