Distributions of trust assets to beneficiaries before the death of the settlor may allow for more flexibility than distributions of trust assets to beneficiaries after the death of the settlor.
In most instances, when a settlor creates a trust, they will appoint themselves as the trustee for their lifetime and name a successor trustee to take over management of the trust once they lose capacity or die.
If this was the approach used, then the settlor will retain control of trust assets for the remainder of their lifetime (provided they retain capacity) and can distribute them to whomever they please, whenever they please, as the only person they have to answer to is themselves.
On the other hand, if the trustee appointed someone other than themselves as trustee, that person will have to abide by the terms of the trust when making distributions. For example, if the trust provisions call for them to make distributions to beneficiaries annually on the settlor’s birthday, they generally will need to follow that schedule.
