Short answers, pulled from the story.
Personal trust law began to develop in England during the 12th and 13th centuries. Legal historians believe that inter vivos trusts were first created for the benefit of Franciscan friars who were forbidden from owning property.
A trust is a legal relationship where an owner gives property to another to manage solely for the benefit of a designated person. In English common law, the party entrusting the property is called the settlor, the party receiving the property is known as the trustee, and the party benefiting from the property is the beneficiary.
King Henry VIII pressured parliament to pass the Statute of Uses in 1535 because the proliferation of uses impacted tax revenue. This statute purported to abolish uses by executing them and transferring title directly from the feoffee to the beneficiary.
Living trusts may help a trustor avoid probate while maintaining privacy and saving costs. Avoiding probate records available to the public allows distribution through a trust to remain private, though they involve upfront legal expenses and annual administration costs of about 1% of the estate.
Trust law in civil law jurisdictions generally including Continental Europe only exists in limited number of countries such as Curaçao, Liechtenstein, and Sint Maarten. Cyprus legislators enacted the Cyprus International Trusts Law of 2012 to facilitate establishment of trusts by non-Cypriot residents.