Separate Trusts by Default
A custodial trust for multiple people does not pool everything into a single pot. The law treats each person's interest as a separate trust with equal shares. This keeps accounting clean and prevents one person's needs from consuming another's share.
Beneficial interests in a custodial trust created for multiple beneficiaries are deemed to be separate custodial trusts of equal undivided interests for each beneficiary.
A.R.S. § 14-9106(A)The trustee must account separately to each person for their portion. This means clear records showing what belongs to whom, how it was invested, and what was paid out.
Survivorship Is Not Automatic
For married couples, survivorship is presumed. If one spouse passes away, the other receives the deceased spouse's share.
For everyone else, a survivorship right exists only if the trust document says so. Community or marital property law may also require it.
This matters for siblings, parent-child pairs, or unmarried partners named as co-beneficiaries. Without clear survivorship language, a deceased person's share passes through their own estate. It does not go to the surviving co-beneficiary.
On the management side, if the same trustee holds property for the same person under multiple transfers, those can be combined into one trust. This makes things simpler when assets arrive at different times.
Each person named gets the same share by default. If you want a different split or survivorship rights for non-spouses, the trust document needs to say so clearly.