Which term denotes the property that the trust holds for beneficiaries?

• A. Trust fund
• B. Corpus or principal
• C. Trust property or trust assets
• D. Income

Answer: (C)

The property held by a trust for beneficiaries is called the trust property, also known as trust assets. This encompasses everything the settlor placed into the trust—real estate, cash, investments, and other assets—which the trustee holds for the beneficiaries’ benefit. Income, by contrast, refers to the earnings generated from those assets (like interest or rents), not the assets themselves. While terms like corpus or principal can describe the trust’s assets in some contexts, the most precise and widely used label for the property the trust owns is trust property or trust assets. A trust fund is a common, but less precise term, because it can refer to the overall fund rather than the specific assets that constitute the trust.