Trusts · Asset protection · Entity structure

Everything you own sits in your name. We build the trust that changes that.

A is a legal arrangement that owns your property for you, so it is no longer sitting in your own name. Build one here, along with the structure that goes around it: a to hold your assets, and an to run the business and carry the risk.

Why it matters: while your home, your accounts, and your business all sit in your personal name, one can reach all of them — and this only works if it's set up before a claim exists.

Start building — about 20 minutes Not sure what you need? Take the quiz
No legal background needed Every term explained 27 documents Accepted by banks All 50 states
01 The Trust Owns the holding company. Holds nothing operational. Never signs a contract. Ownership
02 Holding Company Owns the operating company and the assets. Banks. Lends down. Takes no customers. Assets
03 Operating Company Signs the contracts, hires, invoices, and absorbs the liability. Owns nothing. Risk

Ownership flows up — liability stays down

Start here

A trust is three people and a rulebook.

Strip away the legal language and that's the whole mechanism. You put property in. Someone you name manages it under rules you write. People you choose receive it. Everything else — the paperwork, the banking, the tax treatment — is detail hanging off those three roles.

Role one

The person who puts things in

The . That's you. You own the property today, and you're the one deciding to hand it over and set the terms.

Once you've written the rules, your say in them depends entirely on which type of trust you chose.

Role two

The person who follows the rules

The . They hold legal title and sign on the trust's behalf, but they cannot treat any of it as their own.

They're bound by — spend trust money on themselves and they can be sued personally for it.

Role three

The people who receive it

The . Your children, a spouse, a charity — or, with some kinds of trust, you.

You decide not just who, but when and under what conditions.

The moment property moves into a trust, it stops being yours in the eyes of the law and becomes the trust's. That single shift is what everything else depends on — and it's why a trust nobody ever transferred anything into does nothing at all.

Why anyone bothers

Five situations where the difference shows up.

A trust earns its keep in specific moments, not in the abstract. These are the ones that come up most.

You die without warning
Without a trust

Everything you own goes through — a public court process that commonly runs months to over a year, with fees, before your family can touch any of it.

With a trust

Your trustee distributes according to your written instructions. No court, no public filing, no waiting period.

Someone wins a lawsuit against you
Without a trust

Anything held in your personal name is reachable once there's a — home equity, accounts, business interests.

With a trust

Property that legally belongs to an is not yours to surrender, which makes it substantially harder to reach.

Your children inherit at nineteen
Without a trust

A will hands over everything in one lump, at whatever age your state sets. No conditions, no staging, no second chances.

With a trust

You set the terms: staged at 25, 30 and 35; released for education or a first home; or left to your trustee's judgment.

You own property in three states
Without a trust

Each state can require its own separate probate for the property sitting inside it — three processes, three sets of fees, three timelines.

With a trust

The trust owns all three. One set of instructions covers every property regardless of which state it's in.

You'd rather not be public record
Without a trust

Your name sits on the deed and the company filing, searchable by anyone who thinks to look.

With a trust

The trust is the owner of record. Your proves authority to a bank without exposing your terms or beneficiaries.

What a trust is not. It is not a tax loophole, and for most people a revocable one changes nothing about what they owe. It is not a way to escape a debt that already exists — moving assets after a claim has arisen is a fraudulent transfer, and courts reverse it. And a trust that never had anything protects nothing at all, no matter how well it was drafted. It works because it's set up early, and for no other reason.
How it works

Four steps. You only do the first one.

Nothing here requires you to know the terminology in advance. You answer questions about yourself and what you own; we handle the drafting.

Tell us what you're protecting

A short quiz points you to the right structure. If you already know what you want, skip it and go straight to the questionnaire.

2 minutes

Answer the questionnaire

Your name, who you want in charge, who inherits, and what the business does. Progress saves automatically, so you can stop and come back.

About 20 minutes

We draft the documents

Your answers generate the full package — formatted the way banks and attorneys expect, with signature and blocks already in place.

Done for you

Sign, notarize, and fund it

You get a checklist for signing, opening bank accounts, and moving assets in — the step called .

Guided
Why three layers

Each layer can fail without taking the others down with it.

A single does all three jobs at once. So when it gets sued, everything it owns is on the table — because the same company that took the risk also holds the assets. Separating those jobs is the entire point.

What happens Single LLC LLC + Trust The Fortress
Operating company gets suedAll assets exposedAssets exposedAssets sit above the suit
Your name on the public filingYesPartiallyTrust is the member of record
Business credit builds separatelyTied to youTied to youTwo credit files, tiered
Assets pass without NoYesYes
Add a second business lineNew standalone riskNew standalone riskNew OpCo under the same HoldCo
Banker asks who really owns thisN/AYou explain it + docs
Sell or wind down one ventureUnwind everythingUnwind everythingSell the OpCo, keep the stack
Five questions

Find the structure that matches what you actually own.

Nothing is saved or sent. This just points you at the right package.

Question 1 of 5

Answer to continue
Recommended

Packages

Start where you are. Add layers as you grow.

Every package is drafted the way a bank and an attorney expect to receive it: formal numbered sections, a block on every page that needs one, and the supporting paperwork a bank asks for before it will open the account — so you're not chasing documents later.

40% off every package
Filing

Entity Formation Only

—Plus state fees

You need the LLC or corporation filed first. Formation routes through ZenBusiness, then the trust layers on top once it's live.

  • Entity type & state guidance
  • LLC or Corporation filing
  • Registered agent
  • EIN application
  • Operating Agreement
  • Upgrade path into the full stack
See formation options
Estate / Control

Revocable Living Trust

—One-time

You keep full control and can change or cancel it any time. Skips ; does not shield assets from a .

  • Revocable Trust Agreement
  • Certificate of Trust (banker version)
  • Schedule A — Trust Property
  • Trustee acceptance + successor chain
  • Trust Banking Resolution
  • Funding & retitling checklist
Protection

Irrevocable Trust

—One-time

Assets leave your personal . Real separation from creditors and , in exchange for giving up direct control.

  • Irrevocable Trust Agreement
  • Certificate of Trust (banker version)
  • Trustee acceptance & duties
  • Trust Banking Resolution
  • CIP/KYC Control Person Worksheet
  • Source of Funds Declaration
Flagship
Full stack

The Fortress

—One-time · 27 documents

Trust, holding company, and operating company built as one ownership chain, with the that actually connect them drafted for you.

  • Everything in the Irrevocable Trust
  • Holding Co + Operating Co agreements
  • Assignment of the holding company to the trust
  • Subsidiary ownership assignment
  • Beneficial ownership (BOI) templates
  • Bank opening checklists, all three
  • International wire acknowledgment
Also available · By inquiry

Shelf corporations, priced on request.

A is a company that was registered years ago and kept dormant ever since — no trading, no debts, nothing but the annual filings that hold it in . We source them, verify the history, and transfer ownership to you or to your trust.

What you get

  • A verified entity with its original formation date intact
  • Certificate of good standing from the state of record
  • Clean history confirmed — no prior trading, liens, or judgments
  • Full transfer package: assignment, resolutions, and updated ownership records
  • and registered agent set up
  • Optional: placed directly under your or trust
Worth knowing before you ask. An earlier formation date is not a funding guarantee. Banks and lenders verify actual operating history, revenue, and — and presenting a dormant company as having traded for years is fraud. We sell these as a legitimate head start on entity age, nothing more. Availability and pricing vary by state and by how old the entity is, which is why we quote them individually rather than listing a number.

Ask about availability

Tell us what you're looking for and we'll come back with what's on hand and what it costs.

What ships

Twenty-seven documents, ordered by the ownership chain.

Numbered in the order the structure is built and funded — the trust comes first, because it has to exist before it can own anything.

01

Trust Package

10 docs
  1. Package Index
  2. Trust Agreement
  3. Certificate of Trust (Banker Version)
  4. Trustee Acceptance
  5. Schedule A — Trust Property
  6. Trust Banking Resolution
  7. Trust Bank Account Opening Checklist
  8. CIP/KYC Control Person Worksheet
  9. Source of Funds Declaration
  10. Assignment of Holding Company Interest
02

Holding Company

8 docs
  1. Package Index
  2. Operating Agreement
  3. Banking Resolution
  4. Authorized Signer Resolution
  5. Beneficial Ownership Template
  6. Bank Opening Checklist
  7. Source of Funds Declaration
  8. Subsidiary Ownership Assignment
03

Operating Company

9 docs
  1. Package Index
  2. Operating Agreement
  3. Banking Resolution
  4. Authorized Signer Resolution
  5. Beneficial Ownership Template
  6. Bank Opening Checklist
  7. Source of Funds Declaration
  8. International Wire Acknowledgment
  9. Contract & Operational Asset Assignment
Guided intake

Build your structure.

Your progress saves to this device as you go — close the tab and come back. Tax IDs and license numbers are never saved locally; they are sent once, when you submit.

What are you building?

This decides which sections you'll be asked to complete. You can change it later.

The flagship structure generates all 27 documents.

Your information

Names must match your government-issued ID exactly, or the bank will reject the package.

Identity verification

Federal law requires a bank to confirm who is really behind an account before opening it. That rule is called . It is why a and a photo ID are not optional here — without them, no bank can legally open the trust's account.

The four fields on this step are deliberately not saved to your browser. They are held in memory only and transmitted once, when you press submit. If you reload the page, you will re-enter them.

Trust details

Name it the way a banker expects to read it: The [Family Name] [Revocable or Irrevocable] Trust. A can be changed or cancelled by you at any time. An generally cannot — and that permanence is what creates the protection.

Whose state laws control the trust. Usually where you live.
The person creating the trust and putting assets into it. Normally you.

Trustee and successor

The trustee manages the trust and signs on its behalf.

Plain version: the is the person who runs the trust day to day. The is the backup who steps in automatically if the first one can't serve. Name both — if you don't, a court eventually picks for you.

Trustee tax ID and license number are also held in memory only and never written to this device.

Beneficiaries

A is anyone who receives money or property from the trust. List each one and how they're related to you. The percentages have to add up to 100. You control the timing too — all at once, at a set age, or in stages. That's called a .

Trustee powers and trust assets

are the specific things your trustee is allowed to do. A power you don't check here is a power they won't have — and getting one added later means going back to court. Check everything the trust will realistically need.

The second list is what the trust will actually own. Moving those assets in is called , and it's the step people skip. A trust that owns nothing protects nothing.

Trustee powers requested

Assets the trust will own

Holding company

The is owned by your trust, and it owns everything underneath it. It has no customers and signs no customer contracts, which is exactly why there's rarely a reason to sue it. Think of it as the vault, not the storefront.

Operating company

The is the storefront. It invoices customers, hires people, signs contracts, and absorbs the risk that comes with all of it. It deliberately owns as little as possible, so that if someone wins a against it, there isn't much inside to take.

Banking and signers

These answers produce two documents the bank will ask for: a , which authorizes the account to be opened, and an list, which names who can actually move money. Owning a company and being allowed to sign on its account are two separate things.

Review and submit

Red marks a required field still empty. Amber is optional and can be filled in later.

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Saved to this device
Entity formation

The trust can't own a company that doesn't exist yet.

If your LLC or corporation isn't filed, file it first. Formation routes through ZenBusiness because their filing, registered agent, and EIN flow moves fast enough to not hold up the rest of the build. Come back once the entity is live and the trust goes on top.

Form the entity, then bring it back.

File the OpCo first if you're already earning. File the HoldCo first if you're holding property. Either way the trust goes on last, once there's an ownership interest for it to actually receive.

The 1787 Group may earn a commission on formations completed through these links, at no additional cost to you.

Form an LLCFiling, operating agreement, registered agent Start → Form a CorporationC-corp or S-corp election support Start → Get an EINRequired before any business bank account Start → Registered AgentKeeps your home address off the public filing Start →
Plain English

Every term on this page, defined without the legalese.

Any word with a dotted underline can be tapped for its definition. They're all collected here too. If a term you ran into isn't listed, tell us and we'll add it.

Questions

What clients ask before they build.

Is The 1787 Group a law firm?

No. We are a document preparation and business infrastructure company. Your documents are prepared to attorney-review standard, and we recommend licensed counsel in your state review them before execution. We do not provide legal advice or represent you.

Revocable or irrevocable — which one?

Revocable keeps you in control and avoids probate, but the assets are still legally yours, so creditors can still reach them. Irrevocable moves assets out of your estate for real separation, in exchange for giving up the ability to unilaterally change it. If protection is the goal, irrevocable. If control and probate avoidance are the goal, revocable.

Why does the trust own the HoldCo instead of the OpCo?

Because the OpCo is where lawsuits land. If the trust owned the OpCo directly, a judgment against the operating business would reach straight up into trust-held ownership. The HoldCo sits between them as the layer that absorbs the ownership relationship while the OpCo absorbs the risk.

Why do you need my Social Security number?

Banks operate under Customer Identification Program rules and will not open a trust or entity account without a verified tax ID for the control person. Those fields are held in memory only, never written to your browser's storage, and transmitted once when you submit.

How long does the full build take?

The intake takes about twenty minutes. Document generation runs immediately after you submit. Entity filings depend on your state's processing time, which ranges from same-day to several weeks.

What's left blank for me to complete?

EIN numbers, state filing and control numbers, registered agent details, bank account numbers, compliance and merchant processing IDs, DUNS numbers, and BOI filing confirmations. Those come from third parties after the documents exist, and The 1787 Group completes them post-generation.

Will a bank actually accept these?

They're drafted for it. Each package includes the Certificate of Trust, banking resolution, authorized signer resolution, beneficial ownership template, source of funds declaration, and an account opening checklist. Your banker may still request supplemental items such as recent statements or a utility bill, which are not collected at intake.

Do you sell shelf corporations, and what do they cost?

Yes. A shelf corporation is a company registered years ago and kept dormant since, which some buyers want for the earlier formation date. Availability and price depend on the state and how old the entity is, so we quote each one individually rather than publishing a figure — ask through the form in the Shelf Corps section and we'll tell you what's on hand. One caveat worth stating plainly: an older formation date is not a funding guarantee, because lenders verify actual operating history and revenue.

Can I add a second business later?

Yes, and that's the point of the structure. A new venture becomes a new operating company under the same holding company. The trust and HoldCo don't get rebuilt.