To manage and control spending and investments to protect beneficiaries from poor judgment and waste;

To avoid court-supervised probate of trust assets and be private;

To protect trust assets from the beneficiaries’ creditors;

To protect premarital assets from division between divorcing spouses;

To manage unique assets that are not easily divisible, e.g. vacation homes, pets, recreational vehicles, mineral interests, timber and commercial real estate;

To manage closely held business assets for planned business succession;

To hold life insurance policies, pay premiums and collect the tax-free proceeds to care for beneficiaries, fund closely held stock redemptions or purchases, and provide liquidity to the estate;

To provide a vehicle for charitable gifting that can reduce income taxes and benefit the settlor, his or her spouse and their children;

To provide tools for Medicaid and means-tested benefit eligibility for the settlor, a surviving spouse and disabled children;

To provide structured income to a surviving spouse that protects trust assets for descendants if the spouse remarries; and

To reduce income taxes or shelter assets from estate and transfer taxes.