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  A Trust Account is an account relationship established with a third party (usually a bank) for the administration of assets of the trust. When this occurs, the trustee(s) is defined as the bailor, the bank as the bailee and the legal relationship called bailment.  
     
  Bailment and Banks  
  As defined above, bailment is the legal definition used within Roman and Western Courts to define the relationship between one person ("bailor") transferring property to another ("bailee") for safekeeping.  
  Bailment is distinguished from other forms of property transfer such as contract of sale, or gift by deed of property, as it traditionally only involves the transfer of possession and not its ownership.  
  A further difference with bailment to other forms of property transfer is that a valid bailment requires that the bailee must both intend to possess, and actually physically possess, the bailable chattel.  
     
  Deposit and Special Deposit Accounts and Bailment  
  When personal property or chattel is transferred to a bank through the legal process of bailment, it is done by one of two ways: Deposit or Special Deposit. The word deposit comes from the Latin depono which in this case means literally "to entrust, commit to the care of".  
  A standard Deposit Account is considered under Western (Roman) Law to be a gratuitous bailment whereby the personal property or chattel is given to the bank and the bank is usually only liable for loss caused by gross negligence. Furthermore, banks have taken the gratuity aspect of a general Deposit to the point of extreme fraud in treating it now as a gift, grant or conveyance of ownership with the bailor now being considered as a mere beneficiary.  
  A Special Deposit Account (SDA) is defended consistently under Western (Roman) Law not to be a gratuitous bailment but a trust relationship whereby the bailee (bank) is obliged to undertake a high duty of care and is liable for any loss or injury to the property. Furthermore, it is regarded by the laws, case law and rulings of Western (Roman) Law that a bailee (bank) under a Special Deposit relationship has no right to handle, or examine the property, except so far as its safety may require.  
  Given this knowledge, all Trustees should seek to establish Special Deposit accounts for the administration of Trust Property and not Deposit accounts.  
     
  Establishing a Special Deposit Bank Account  
  Most large commercial banks provide the service of Special Deposit Accounts upon application. Given their nature, some may require a minimum value of personal property or chattel be deposited before accepting an application. Therefore, for some Trustees, the opening of a Special Deposit Account may be delayed until one or more instruments of sufficient value are available.  
  In normally circumstances, a bank will require the following kind of standard information before accepting a new Special Deposit Account:  
  1. A completed application form of the Bank; and  
  2. A copy of a signed and sealed Deed of Trust; and  
  3. An EIN or some other tax registration number; and  
  4. Some proof of identification of the Trustee, which may include a copy of the Live Borne Record as well as other Trust Identification  
     
  What happens if a bank does not agree to opening a special deposit account?  
  Like any business, a bank may decline to manage a Special Deposit Account for the Trust. Given it is a trust relationship, the Bank has every right to decline.  
  Therefore, some other bank should be contacted to seek the same service.  
  However, a distinction must be made between the acceptance of a Bank to enter into a standard Special Deposit Account (SDA) relationship and the same bank declining the deposit of a perfected instrument such as an endorsed bill.  
  Should a bank decline the deposit of a perfected instrument such as an endorsed bill, then such an action constitutes an injury to the trust and may be pursued as its own injury.  
     
     
     
     
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