A Brief History Of Trust Law
It is easy to look to the past as a time of creativity, or else of simplicity, that we do not see today. Can anyone alive today recite Beowulf or the Aeneid from memory or craft the stained-glass windows of Notre Dame Cathedral? Do we even stop scrolling long enough to contemplate these things? If we were to look up from our devices long enough to consider high minded pursuits, we probably would not get very far before reminders of our approaching buy now pay later (BNPL) obligations threw us off course. Of course, all we have left from the past is its most enduring relics. Most people then lived in an even more heightened state of uncertainty. The risk of dying from infectious diseases or accidental injury was higher than it is today. While the ancients were no more able to achieve immortality than we are, they developed ways to remove uncertainty surrounding the transfer of property after the death of the original owner, and some of these became what we now know as trust law. To find out more about how trusts can benefit you as they benefited our distant ancestors, contact an Orlando estate planning lawyer.
Testamentary Trusts Go All the Way Back to Ancient Rome
The laws of ancient Rome allowed a citizen to appoint a trusted person, known as a fidelis, to distribute the citizen’s property to his heirs after his death. This transfer of property was called a fideicommissum. It functioned like a testamentary trust, with the fidelis acting in the role of trustee. This system held up for many centuries without posing any legal challenges, since the only situation where people would need someone else to control their property for them was if the original owner was dead.
The Crusades Created Demand for Revocable Trusts
During the Crusades, when people of all socioeconomic backgrounds traveled from Western Europe to fight in wars in the Middle East, brought changes to trust law. The Crusaders set out for the Crusader kingdoms without knowing if they would ever return to their place of origin alive. Therefore, wealthy landowners in 12th century England who participated in the Crusades transferred their property to trustees before they set sail. The problem was that, when the Crusaders returned, the trustees sometimes refused to return the property entrusted to them, and the courts ruled that the property now legally belonged to the trustees.
Centuries of litigation later, the law now recognizes a difference between revocable and irrevocable trusts. If you really want to hand over your property so that it becomes independent of you, then establish an irrevocable trust. If you still want to control the fate of your property and retain the right to take it back, set up a revocable trust.
Contact Gierach and Gierach About Estate Planning for People For Whom Uncertainty Is the Only Certain Thing
An estate planning lawyer can help you establish a trust, even if setting up an irrevocable trust seems too final. Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Fideicommissum.html
