Donor Definition:

The giver of a trust (the recipient being the donee); the person who establishes the trust, from whom comes the property forming the subject matter of the trust.

The term encompasses both the settlor of a testamentary trust (the testator) and the settlor of an express trust, (just as, for example, the term personal representative encompasses both the executor or the Court-appointed administrator of an estate).

Thus, the person who creates a trust within a will is, in law, all of a testator, a settlor and a donor.

The term is also used to describe the person who signs a power of attorney, and thereby gives his/her authority and powers to another, instead of the synonymous term, in that context, of principal.