What Is a Trust?

Trusts are an entity for tax purposes, but legally speaking, they are merely a relationship:

A trust is commonly defined as ‘a fiduciary relationship with respect to property, subjecting the person for whom the property is held to equitable duties to deal with the property for the benefit of another person, which arises as a result of a manifestation of an intention to create it.’ See, e.g., Sinclair v. Travis, 231 N.C. 345, 353, 57 S.E.2d 394, 400 (1950); Restatement (Third) of Trusts § 2 (2003). The relationship results from the separation of equitable and legal title to identifiable property. Sinclair v. Travis, 57 S.E.2d at 400. The settlor of a trust relinquishes legal title to property conveyed to a trust. Legal title to trust property is generally vested in the trustee[s] with equitable title vested in the beneficiaries.[1]

That is to say, the trust is an entity for tax purposes, but it is indeed a legal relationship rooted in English common law, not a legal entity per se. This is the reason why a third-party attempting to obtain legal standing to sue for the assets of the trust would have to sue all interested parties, trustees and beneficiaries, which is made even more difficult due to potential oaths of privacy. For alleged misconduct on the part of a trustee, typically only the trustee would be named in a criminal complaint.

Sources

[2] https://www.youngmoorelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Marital-Rights-in-Trust-and-Estate-Planning-Greensboro-N.C.-September-12-2014.pdf