Text of the provision
Art. 1440. A person who establishes a trust is called the trustor; one in whom confidence is reposed as regards property for the benefit of another person is known as the trustee; and the person for whose benefit the trust has been created is referred to as the beneficiary.
Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles official-text renderings.
What this article means
In a trust: the trustor establishes it, the trustee holds the property in confidence, and the beneficiary is the one for whose benefit it exists.
These three roles recur throughout the trust provisions that follow. The trustor is the person who creates the arrangement and typically supplies the property; the trustee is the one who holds and manages that property, bound by a duty of confidence to use it as intended rather than for personal gain; and the beneficiary is the person the arrangement is meant to benefit, even though he may hold no legal title to the property himself. A parent who sets aside property for a trustee to manage for a child's future benefit illustrates all three roles at once.
Questions about this provision
Related provisions
- Article 1438 — Estoppel Regarding Pledged Personalty.
- Article 1441 — Express and Implied Trusts.
Cases citing this article
- Edward C. Ciacho vs. Spouses Adolfo T. De Guia And Fe Alma V. De Guia ; and Bayani S. Cerilla , Substituted By His Heirs, Mary Bernadette G. Cerilla and Byatres Mari Cerilla-Bohol, G.R. No. 259051, February 26, 2025 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Simny G. Guy, Geraldine G. Guy, Gladys G. Yao and the Heirs of the late Grace G. Cheu vs. Gilbert Guy/Simny G. Guy, Geraldine G. Guy, Gladys G. Yao and the heirs of the late Grace G. Cheu vs. The Hon. Ofelia C. Calo, in her capacity as Presiding Judge of the RTC-Mandaluyong City-Branch 211 and Gilbert Guy, G.R. No. 189486 / G.R. No. 189699, September 5, 2012 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Gilbert Guy vs. Court of Appeals, et al. / Ignacio etc. vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 165849 / G.R. No. 170185, December 10, 2007 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Republic of the Philippines vs. Del Monte Motors, Inc, G.R. No. 156956, October 9, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Spouses Anthony and Percita Oco vs. Victor Limbaring, G.R. No. 161298, January 31, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Compiled automatically from Supreme Court decisions published on LawPhil that expressly cite this article, most frequently cited first. A listing means the decision cites the provision — it is not a statement that the case is the leading authority, and it does not show whether a ruling has since been modified or abandoned. Always read the decision itself.