Charitable Trust: Trustees Always Work For The BeneficiariesWhen we talk of a trust, we refer to different types of association of people that have joined hands together to accomplish a particular goal. A charitable trust is one such association that is established for charitable purposes. Legally, a trust is an arrangement whereby money or property is owned and managed by a person or a group of persons for the benefit of some others. It is an arbitrator, or a settler who creates a trust. He entrusts the properties concerned to one or a group, selected specifically for managing the said properties on his behalf. Trustees are the legal owners of the trust property, but they do not hold the property for their own benefit. It is always the for the benefit of some others that trusts are formed. Trustees always work for the beneficiaries. Charitable trusts can be formed in various ways for charitable purposes. A trust could be formed for the purpose of holding a fund meant for charity, or may be formed as companies, or associations which are not incorporated. The charitable trusts can be broadly classified into four main categories. These are poverty alienation, educational pursuits, religious propagations, and any other purpose which is beneficial to the community. This means, any action undertaken for the common benefit of the community at large, or for the welfare of vulnerable sector of the society, can be called a charitable trust activity. There are innumerable charitable trusts around the world. These charitable trusts take up various social reformative and welfare works that would benefit those who are in need. They may be helping the poorest of the people to get trained in some trade that would allow them to stand on their own feet and earn their own livelihood. Educating poor children in the slums, where they do not have access to good schools for their studies, or distributing medicines to villagers, suffering from some epidemics, could be examples of the tasks that charitable trusts might undertake. There are also charitable trusts that look after children till they become self sufficient, and find their deemed place in the society. While the rules applicable to a charitable and a non-charitable trust are virtually the same, certain specific rules apply to the charitable trusts. Laws relating to charitable trusts vary with geographical locations and social environments, but there are some common features that are universal. Ordinarily charitable trusts are exempted from the rule against perpetuities. A trust therefore, need not be terminated after completion of a specific period. On the other hand, if the purposes for which the charitable trusts have been formed cannot be fulfilled, then the objectives can be modified and new goals may be set up for the charitable trust. Charitable trusts works for the benefit of a target group, and they would ordinarily cover a fixed group of beneficiaries. This is not the case with the non-charitable trusts. The objectives of the charitable trusts have sufficient flexibility to adjust to the given situation. In some cases, donors to a charitable trust get tax exemption benefits. Such donors may be an individual or a corporate. The charitable trust is always governed by the terms laid down in the trust document, and by the local laws that regulate the trust system of the land. |