{"data":{"id":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-203e-402","jurisdiction":"us-ma","citation":"Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 203E, § 402","heading":"Requirements for creation","body":"Section 402. Requirements for creation\n(a) A trust shall be created only if:\n(1) the settlor has capacity to create a trust;\n(2) the settlor indicates an intention to create the trust;\n(3) the trust has a definite beneficiary or is:\n(A) a charitable trust;\n(B) a trust for the care of an animal, as provided in section 408; or\n(C) a trust for a non-charitable purpose, as provided in section 409;\n(4) the trustee has duties to perform; and\n(5) the same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary.\n(b) A beneficiary shall be definite if the beneficiary can be ascertained now or in the future, subject to any applicable rule against perpetuities.\n(c) A power in a trustee to select a beneficiary from an indefinite class shall be valid. If the power is not exercised within a reasonable time, the power shall fail and the property subject to the power shall pass to the persons who would have taken the property had the power not been conferred.","path":["Part II","Title II","Chapter 203E"],"source_url":"https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleII/Chapter203E/Section402","current_through":"amendments passed before May 31, 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-17T05:24:35Z","sha256":"778b7eb54ec4d2c625a873f933c04221768195a0b38ab2464a7f94f6afac887e","source_id":"us-ma","stale":false,"prev":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-203e-401","next":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-203e-403"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}