In International Rescue Committee v. Trustee of the Wylie Street Emergency Fund, 537 P.3d 30 (2023), the Supreme Court of Idaho cited Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) as authority for the proposition that “a person can make a ‘gift of legal title to property to someone who will act as trustee for the benefit of a beneficiary.’” (emphasis added by the court). This is somewhat misleading. The effectiveness of an intended donative transfer to a trustee, qua trustee, of an irrevocable inter vivos trust is actually determined by the laws relating to assignments, assignments that are supported neither by consideration nor donative intent. The trustee is the assignee, not the donee, of the legal title, there being no coupling of title passage with donative intent. It is the trust’s beneficiaries who are the donees. The subject of the gift is the constellation of equitable property rights incident to the trust relationship. The effectiveness of the donative transfer of those equitable property rights is determined by rules that do govern the making of gifts. In the case of a declaration of trust, only the equitable interest is transferred. The legal title remains with the settlor.
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