Quora Answer: Can a Trust Name Another Trust as a Beneficiary?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Can a trust name another trust as a beneficiary?”

In general principal, it is not acceptable for a great many places in the world.  In Singapore, a trust may name any legal person, whether a natural person, an institution, or even a company, as a beneficiary.  In some parts of the world, this may even be extended to family pets.

One of the reasons why a trust would have another trust as a beneficiary would be to separate the ownership of the assets within the trust according to the state of the beneficiaries.  Some beneficiaries take ownership of their assets earlier than others due to their differing ages.  Some beneficiaries are in places where it makes more sense for them to take direct ownership, whereas others are in places where it makes sense otherwise due to other factors such as taxation.

Another reason would be the differing status of the legal persons, with one being a natural person, and the other being an endowment, perhaps.  This would necessitate a separation of the endowed assets from the original trust.