Trust Company
The "trust" name refers to the ability of the institution's trust department to act as a trustee - someone who administers financial assets on behalf of another. The assets are typically held in the form of a trust, a legal instrument that spells out the beneficiaries and what the money can be spent for.
A trustee will manage investments, keep records, manage assets and prepare court accountings, paying bills and (depending on the nature of the trust) medical expenses, charitable gifts, inheritances or other distributions of income and principal.
A trust company is normally owned by one of three types of structures; an independent partnership, a bank, or a law firm, each of which specialize in being a trustee of various kinds of trusts, and managing estates.
Trust law
In common law legal systems, a trust is an arrangement whereby money or property is owned and managed by one person (or persons, or organizations) for the benefit of another. A trust is created by a settlor, who entrusts some or all of his property to people of his choice (the trustees). The trustees are the legal owners of the trust property (or trust corpus), but they are obliged to hold the property for the benefit of one or more individuals or organizations (the beneficiary).
Examples
Sun Trust - is this really a "trust" company?
Links
Financial Services Industry
Wikipedia article
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