At work I came across a legal entity with a name something like “The Bruce Wayne Alter Ego Trust.”
I have an idea of what an alter ego trust is, but I can’t quite fathom why it is called that.
So… why dat?
Perhaps it’s something like a DBA so someone can bank using a professional or stage name?
I think (but I could be wrong) that you’re putting it together wrong in your head. You’re reading it as “The Bruce Wayne” Alter Ego Trust and I think it should be “The Bruce Wayne Alter Ego” Trust. It’s a trust and the name on it just happens to be “The Bruce Wayne Alter Ego”
From this link, I conclude that the main idea about an alter ego trust is (1) that you can transfer property to the trust tax free and (2) that during the lifetime of the founder of the trust, nobody but the founder is entitled to receive benefits from the trust.
That could explain the term “alter ego:” For tax purposes, property owned by the trust is regarded as if it were owned by the founder himself. The trust acts as a substitute, or an alter go, of the founder with regards to holding this property.