Stuart Stone
Think of the Private Trust this way:
Your wife is very good at working out when you are going to give her a surprise gift.
You have it in your hand and you see your wife (government officer) coming up to you, with that knowing look in her eye...you know that when she asks you all these questions about your surprise gifts, you often make a mistake & can't keep the surprise from her for very long.
So, you hand the gift to your daughter (another person= corporation) to hold, while you talk to your wife...but, your wife can see it in your daughter's hand & the questions start all over again, and she starts asking her daughter questions about it (she still has some power/jurisdiction there as well).
So, being a smart French dude, you decide that next time, you'll remember to place the surprise gift in a big, ugly looking box, with pictures of sports cars all over it, so she doesn't ask about the valuable things inside & so she can't see what's inside...That's the private trust. You give it to your son & tell him to keep it in his room, so your wife doesn't ask you what is in the box.
I don't know if you have a son Pete Daoust, & I don't want to offend you or your wife by suggesting she's like the government, but I hope the example helped :D Time for me to stop eating sugar I think :D