Corpus (Principal)

Corpus (Latin for "body") refers to the core assets a trust holds, as distinguished from income those assets produce. If a trust owns a portfolio of bonds, the bonds themselves are corpus; the interest payments they generate are income. This distinction matters because many trust documents treat corpus and income differently, directing income to one set of beneficiaries while preserving corpus for another (often future generations).

The grantor funds the corpus at inception, but it can grow over time through appreciation, additional contributions (if the trust permits), or reinvested returns. The trustee is responsible for safeguarding and prudently investing the corpus in accordance with the trust document and applicable law, often guided by the Uniform Prudent Investor Act or a similar statutory framework, which a qualified attorney can explain in context.

A hypothetical example: a grantor transfers an illustrative $10 million securities portfolio into an irrevocable trust. That portfolio is the corpus. Over decades, it grows to an illustrative $30 million. The original contribution and all accumulated growth together form the corpus at that later point. A common confusion is treating a distribution of appreciated assets as "income." In most trust accounting frameworks, capital appreciation belongs to corpus, not to income beneficiaries, unless the document or applicable law specifies otherwise. Families weighing trust structures may find broader context at Wealth at $50 Million.