Which item is NOT listed under PRIVATE EXPRESS TRUST?

Which item is NOT listed under PRIVATE EXPRESS TRUST?

• A. Delivery
• B. Donation
• C. Parol if intent ambiguous
• D. Totten, bank account for bene

Answer: (B)

Private express trusts are created when property is placed under the control of a trustee to be held for the benefit of a named person, with the present intention to create a trust and a transfer of the property to the trustee (or delivery of possession to the trustee). Delivery of property to someone to hold for another is a recognized way to establish such a trust, because it shows the trustee’s duty to manage the property for the beneficiary. Parol evidence may be used to resolve situations where the settlor’s intent to create a trust isn’t clearly expressed in writing; the court can look to oral evidence to determine that trust intention and arrangement. A Totten trust is another familiar form: funds placed in a bank account are held for a designated beneficiary and pass to that beneficiary as a trust upon death or at some specified time. This reflects the same underlying principle of a private express trust—property held for another’s benefit under a trustee-like arrangement. Donation, on the other hand, is a simple gift of property without naming a trustee to hold it for a beneficiary. It lacks the essential fiduciary relationship and ongoing management for someone else’s benefit, so it does not create a private express trust.

Private express trusts are created when property is placed under the control of a trustee to be held for the benefit of a named person, with the present intention to create a trust and a transfer of the property to the trustee (or delivery of possession to the trustee). Delivery of property to someone to hold for another is a recognized way to establish such a trust, because it shows the trustee’s duty to manage the property for the beneficiary.

Parol evidence may be used to resolve situations where the settlor’s intent to create a trust isn’t clearly expressed in writing; the court can look to oral evidence to determine that trust intention and arrangement.

A Totten trust is another familiar form: funds placed in a bank account are held for a designated beneficiary and pass to that beneficiary as a trust upon death or at some specified time. This reflects the same underlying principle of a private express trust—property held for another’s benefit under a trustee-like arrangement.

Donation, on the other hand, is a simple gift of property without naming a trustee to hold it for a beneficiary. It lacks the essential fiduciary relationship and ongoing management for someone else’s benefit, so it does not create a private express trust.