Development and Application of Trusts in Costa Rica

The concept of trust has been put into practice in the ordinances of several Latin American countries and more and more this type of instrument, which allows an infinite number of modalities arising from inter vivos or mortis causa contracts (eg. inheritances), is being utilized. It allows greater versatility in contractual relationships.

In Costa Rica, trusts are regulated by articles 633 onward of the Commercial Code, as follows:

"Through trust agreements, the trustor gives to the fiduciary the property of assets or rights: the fiduciary is obligated to utilize them for the legal and pre-determined purposes established in the constituted act."

In order to understand this definition in its totality, it is necessary to refer to the elements that intervene in the creation of a trust, which are: