Asset Protection Terms and Definitions

Trustee
The person who receives legal title to the assets in the trust but is legally obligated to hold, manage, and invest the trust assets for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The trustee's duties are set by the trust agreement and by law.

Trusts for Children
You can set up a trust for your children, too. The terms of the trust can specify which of the children's expenses to pay and under what circumstances.

Offshore Financial Centers OFC
A recent study found that by the end of 1997, the share of cross-border assets held in the offshore sector ($4.8 trillion) accounted for more than half of all cross-border assets held globally.

Secret Bank Accounts
Infamous numbered and bearer Swiss bank accounts. Switzerland has come under much scrutiny through scandals relating to money laundering and holding assets

Bearer Accounts
The bearer account requires a minimum of USD 7,000 as the initial deposit plus facilitator fees. Funds can only be deposited or withdrawn upon presentation of both a password and a bearer bank account book.

Durable power of attorney
A power of attorney that remains valid when the principal becomes incapacitated.

Revocable Trust
In a living, or revocable trust, you name yourself as the grantor, the trustee, and the current beneficiary. You then transfer some or all of your assets to the trust. The terms of the trust require that the trust is to be used for your benefit during your life. After your death, the living trust continues for the benefit of your intended beneficiaries.

Bonds
Essentially loans or debt. When someone lends you money, he or she gets an IOU that promises the loan will be repaid with interest. When you buy a bond, you're basically buying that IOU. A bond certificate is like an IOU: it shows the amount loaned (principal), the rate of interest to be paid on the loan and the date that the principal will be paid back (maturity date). Bonds can be issued by government agencies, such as the U.S. Treasury and by corporations to raise money.

Testamentary trust
A trust that is established by will. Compare to living trust.

Living trust
A trust that is established while the grantor is still alive. Compare to testamentary trust.