Do You Need a Will, a Revocable Trust, or Both in Your Estate Plan? The answer: BOTH. Your estate plan will benefit from having both a professionally prepared Will and Revocable Trust, to be sure that your assets reach the right person after your passing. Both accomplish different goals, so you’ll want to be sure they match your situation and overall estate planning goals. A recent article from MSN, “Living Trust vs. Will: What’s the Difference and Which One Do You Need,” explains it all.
First, what is a Will?
In modern comprehensive Estate Planning, a Will does little more that appoint your Executor. The majority of the important dispositive provisions are contained in the Revocable Trust.
Your will is also the document needed to name a guardian for any minor children. If you have children under age 18, your will should name a guardian and a backup guardian, in case your first candidate can’t take the child or children into their homes. Without this document, your children’s future will rest in the court’s hands.
A Revocable Trust becomes effective as soon as it’s established, while you are living. It allows you to transfer ownership of assets into the trust, which functions as a separate legal entity. For a Revocable Trust, also known as a living trust, the grantor is the person who establishes the trust and can be the trustee, which means that you maintain complete control over the assets in the trust. The trust document includes a successor trustee, the person who takes control of the trust upon your death or incapacity.
Trusts have certain advantages over Wills. For one thing, if you become sick and can’t manage your affairs, the successor Trustee can use the assets in the trust to do things like pay bills and keep your household running. Assets in the trust don’t go through the probate process, which streamlines the distribution process. Unlike Wills, trust documents remain private, so nosy relatives or neighbors can’t gain access to your private information. A will becomes public once it is entered into probate, but trusts are private.
Revocable Trusts are excellent estate planning tools if you want to avoid the delays of probate and prefer privacy. More importantly, they help you avoid Probate, while your Estate is being settled and avoid Probate Court involvement in any Trusts you create for children at your death. Trusts are also better for setting restrictions on how assets are managed and when they are distributed. You can use a trust to name multiple beneficiaries and determine precisely when you believe heirs will be ready to inherit responsibly.
Do You Need a Will, a Revocable Trust, or Both in Your Estate Plan? The answer: BOTH
If you own property in multiple states, probate is going to be very complicated and take a long time. A living trust should be considered. A living trust also works better in case of incapacity. Finally if you plan to create trusts for your children at your death, a Revocable Trust is a must.
Talk with an experienced estate planning attorney to determine the pros and cons depending on your situation.
Reference: MSN (May 28, 2025) “Living Trust vs. Will: What’s the Difference and Which One Do You Need”