Lifetime trust · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 1-2.20 Lifetime trust
The term "lifetime trust" shall mean an express trust and all amendments thereto created other than by will and shall not include; a trust for the benefit of creditors, a resulting or constructive trust, a business trust where certificates of beneficial interest are issued to the beneficiary, an investment trust, voting trust, a security instrument such as a deed of trust and a mortgage, a trust created by the judgment or decree of a court, a liquidation or reorganization trust, a trust for the sole purpose of paying dividends, interest, interest coupons, salaries, wages, pensions or profits, instruments wherein persons are mere nominees for others, or a trust created in deposits in any banking institution or savings and loan institution.
A lifetime trust is an express trust, with its amendments, created other than by will. It excludes creditor-benefit, resulting, and constructive trusts; business trusts issuing certificates of beneficial interest; investment trusts; voting trusts; security instruments such as a deed of trust or mortgage; court-created, liquidation, or reorganization trusts; trusts solely paying listed income or compensation; nominee arrangements; and bank or savings-and-loan deposit trusts. ★
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Surrogate's Court in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Surrogate's Court: Court Rules & the EPTL; Volume 5 — Your Career: Surrogate's Court in Plain English.