\n(a) A trust is created only if:\n(1) The settlor has capacity to create a trust;\n(2) The settlor indicates an intention to create the trust;\n(3) The trust has a definite beneficiary or is:\na. A charitable trust;\nb. A trust for the care of an animal, as provided in G.S. 36C-4-408; or\nc. A trust for a noncharitable purpose, as provided in G.S. 36C-4-409;\n(4) The trustee has duties to perform; and\n(5) The same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary.\n(b) A beneficiary is definite if the beneficiary can be ascertained now or in the future, subject to any applicable rule against perpetuities.\n(c) A power in a trustee to select a beneficiary from an indefinite class is valid. If the power is not exercised within a reasonable time, the power fails, and the property subject to the power passes to the persons who would have taken the property had the power not been conferred. (2005-192, s. 2.)
North Carolina Legal Code