There are three types of trusts:
1-Ownership trust–A founder or settlor transfers ownership of assets or property to trustees which are to be held for the benefit of defined or determinable beneficiaries of the trust.
2-Bewind trust–A founder or settlor transfers ownership of assets or property to beneficiaries of the trust. The assets remain the property of the beneficiaries but it is administered by the trustees (i.e. trustees are given control over the property).
2-Curatorship trust–The trustees administer the assets of the trust for the benefit of a beneficiary that lacks the capacity to do so, for example, a curator placed in charge of a person with a disability.
In terms of section 6(1) of the Trust Property Control Act, no person may act as trustee without proper authorisation from the Master of the High Court.
Trusts may be described according to their method of formation(inter vivosand mortis causa trusts). An inter vivos trust is created during the lifetime of an individual.Amortis causa trust is created upon the death of an individual under that individual’s last will. The rights they confer on beneficiaries(vesting and discretionary trusts). Under a vesting trust the income (both of a revenue and capital nature) or assets of the trust are vested in the beneficiaries and the beneficiaries are said to have vested rights to the income or assets of the trust. Under a discretionary trust the trustees usually have the discretion as to whether and how much of the income or capital of the trust to distribute to the beneficiaries. In these circumstances, the beneficiaries merely have contingent rights to the income or capital of the trust.