Different Types of Trust from an Ownership Aspect István SÁNDOR * Abstract: The Anglo-Saxon legal institution of a trust is generally regarded as unique because of the simultaneous existence of a legal and equitable title. Legal systems based on Roman law recognize only the unity of ownership, which acts as the chief impedi- ment to the introduction of trusts. Legislators in civil law and mixed jurisdiction countries discovered the relevant advantages of trusts in the economy and in the private sphere, therefore they tried to create similar institutions that could fulfil the same function. The aim of this study is to present a view and a comparative law analysis of the trust-like devices of civil law and mixed jurisdictions, with special emphasis on the regulation of trust property. The comparison will take into account characteristics such as ownership of the trust fund, asset partitioning, the nature of the parties involved in the legal relationship, and the possibility of tracing. The functionality of institutions in civil law countries is more or less adequate to serve the purposes of a trust, but several important details and relevant differences should be highlighted. Keywords: trust, fiduciary asset management, trust-like devices, comparative law, asset partitioning, equitable ownership 1. The English trust is one of the most original institutions of Anglo-Saxon legal systems. The express trust can serve a wide range of both social and economic purposes. It is suitable, in particular, for serving people who are unable or incom- petent to manage their property, or who do not wish to make their ownership public, for charitable purposes, the administration of investments, the remunera- tion of staff, the uniform management of financing sources, protection of property, tax planning, the management of jointly-owned property, etc. It is generally present in Anglo-Saxon law, while its regulation in Continental European legal systems is increasingly raised as an issue. Thus owing to its manifold forms of application and resilience, the function of a trust may be defined in two ways. One possible definition assigns a central role to divided ownership; in this case, trusts are applied only in countries with Anglo-Saxon legal systems. In a wider context, with a focus on managing property for the benefit of someone else and separating trust property, a trust is seen as applied in other countries with civil law systems. We observe that in several civil law and mixed jurisdictions, trust-like legal institu- tions were introduced in the twentieth and at the beginning of the twenty-first * Associate professor, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Law (Budapest), Department of Roman Law and Comparative Legal History. Email: sandor.istvan@ajk.elte.hu European Review of Private Law 6-2016 [1189–1216] © 2016 Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands. 1189