Totten Trust

An informal trust in which assets deposited into an account are controlled by the person creating the trust, the GRANTOR, and held in trust for another, who is named as BENEFICIARY. When the account owner dies, the account is transferred to the beneficiary, but taxed as a part of the grantor's estate. If the account is jointly owned, the regulations covering joint accounts apply. When all the owners of the account die, the beneficiary becomes the lawful owner.