All property, assets, and interests legally transferred to and held by a trust, owned by the trustee in their fiduciary capacity for the benefit of the trust's beneficiaries. Trust property can include real estate, financial accounts, securities, business interests, intellectual property, or any other transferable asset.
Trust property is everything actually owned by the trust—your house if you transferred it in, your investments if they're titled to the trust, any property formally moved into the trust's name. If it's not been transferred to the trust, it's not trust property.
⏱ When you'll encounter this term
- Funding a newly created trust
- Trust administration and management
- Determining what assets avoid probate
- Trust accountings and distributions
"Dad created a trust but forgot to change the title on his investment accounts. When he died, those accounts weren't trust property because they were still in his personal name—so they had to go through probate despite having a trust."
⚖️ Compare: Trust Property vs Personal Property
Owned by trust. Titled to trustee. Avoids probate. Managed per trust terms.
Owned individually. Titled to person. Goes through probate. No trust protection.
💡 Did you know?
Creating a trust without transferring property into it is like buying a safe but leaving your valuables on the kitchen table. The trust exists but accomplishes nothing. Properly "funding" the trust—actually transferring title of your assets to it—is essential for the trust to work.