People who are legally responsible for managing money or property for someone else, especially a child or organization. Plural of 'trustee.'
From 'trust' (from Old Norse 'traust' meaning 'confidence') combined with the agent suffix '-ee.' The suffix '-ee' indicates a person who receives something, while the similar '-or' indicates one who gives it. The term became common in English law by the 1600s for those appointed to hold property in trust.
Trustees exist in a weird legal limbo—they legally own property but can't use it for themselves; they must act as invisible stewards. This ancient concept protects children's inheritances and charitable organizations, but it's also led to scandals when trustees betray their duty, making it one of law's most honored and most broken promises.
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