trustor
Trustor is the person who sets up a trust and hands over money or property for someone else to manage or benefit from, under rules the trustor writes.
In plain English
Who exactly is in charge here, you or the person holding your money?
That question sits at the heart of what a trustor is, and it matters more than most Nigerians realise until they are staring at a will or a school fees arrangement and wondering who controls what.
A trustor is simply the person who creates a trust. You take your money, your land, your shares, whatever it is, and you hand it over to someone else called a trustee, with clear instructions on how it should be used and who should benefit.
Say a man in Lagos wants his three children to receive money for university once they turn eighteen, but he does not trust them to handle a lump sum at fifteen. He sets up a trust, puts in ₦20,000,000, names his brother as trustee, and writes down the rules. That man is the trustor. He decided the terms, he supplied the money, and once the trust is running, his brother manages it according to those instructions.
In the United Kingdom, trustors do this often for inheritance planning, setting aside property so a spouse or child benefits later without probate delays. In the diaspora, someone in London might set up a trust for a parent back home in Enugu, naming a trusted relative as trustee so the money is managed properly even from a distance.
The trustor writes the script, but does not always stay on stage. Once the trust is set up, the trustee runs the show. That handover of control, freely given but carefully instructed, is what makes the whole arrangement work, or fall apart if the wrong trustee is chosen.
Mrs Adeyemi puts ₦5,000,000 into a trust for her granddaughter's education, naming her son as trustee. Mrs Adeyemi is the trustor. She decides the money can only be used for school fees until the granddaughter turns twenty five.
Questions people ask
Can a trustor also be the trustee of their own trust?
Yes, this happens often, especially with living trusts where you manage your own assets during your lifetime and only hand control to another trustee after you pass on or become unable to manage it yourself.
What is the difference between a trustor and a beneficiary?
The trustor is the person who sets up the trust and supplies the money or property. The beneficiary is the person who eventually receives the benefit. Sometimes they overlap, but usually the trustor is a parent or relative setting things up for someone else.
Can a trustor change the rules after the trust is created?
It depends on the type of trust. Some trusts are revocable, meaning the trustor can change or cancel them later. Others are irrevocable, meaning once it is set up, the trustor gives up the right to change the terms.
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