Will or Trust or Both?

Did you hear about the guy who had major trust issues? It turns out his parents didn’t leave him one.

Kidding aside, not everyone needs a trust in their estate plan, but everyone needs at least a will, while some people might need both.

Wills and trusts may do the same thing, distribute your assets after you die, but they do it in very different ways.

A will can be a relatively simple document that names an executor and who will get what assets after you die. A will must go through the local probate court and become a matter of public record. If there are complications, the probate process can drag on and heirs won’t have access to the estate’s funds until things are cleared up.

For that reason, it’s often a good idea to have an estate attorney draft your will. That will ensure that your specific intentions are fulfilled and that the document goes through probate with minimum delays. A will generally costs around $500 to draft and it can be worth every penny.

There are reasons why you need a will even if you have a trust. For one, a will allows you to designate a guardian for your minor children if something happens to you and your spouse. The probate court must appoint a guardian, but naming your preference in a will can eliminate a lot of confusion and squabbling by family members over who will care for your kids.

You can also name a conservator to manage the assets you’re leaving to your kids until they become adults. It can be the same person as the guardian, or someone else.

A will also enables you to *dis-*inherit individuals who might otherwise receive some of your assets if things aren’t specifically listed in the will. A will also goes into effect only after you die, while a trust is put in place and can dictate how your assets are managed while you’re still alive.

Trusts come in two basic varieties, revocable (sometimes called a living trust) and irrevocable. An irrevocable trust requires court approval to be altered or dissolved. A revocable trust does not, and you can change it anytime you like while you’re still alive.

Maybe the biggest reason folks establish a trust is that it allows assets to pass to heirs without going through probate, keeping those transactions private.

When you establish a trust, you become the trustmaker or grantor. You can then place assets in the trust and the trust becomes the owner. You also name a trustee who will manage the assets. Most often you would name yourself as the trustee so you retain control of the assets, allowing you to do whatever you want with them, just like you could if you still owned them.

You also name your beneficiaries and a successor trustee who will take over the management function when you die or become incapacitated, and that’s another key advantage to a trust.

If for any reason you’re no longer able to manage the trust’s assets, such as with Alzheimer’s Disease or some other malady, the successor trustee can immediately take over and continue to manage the assets for you and your beneficiaries. The successor trustee does not have to be appointed by a court, as does an executor named in a will.

This is also beneficial if you have minor children, or children whom you feel aren’t yet capable of managing money responsibly. The successor trustee can continue to manage their benefits until such a time as you designate in the trust language.

That’s not the case with a will. You can put a minimum age for inheritances in a will, but children are entitled to contest the provision and inherit assets when they reach 18.

If you have a child with disabilities, you can establish a special needs trust. It can provide funding for someone who is mentally or physically disabled and does so without putting benefits from public assistance programs at risk. Funds distributed from a trust aren’t counted toward Social Security and Medicaid income and asset restrictions.

Regardless of what you decide, you should carefully consider having an estate attorney draw up the necessary documents. You can find one who shares your Christian values with the Certified Kingdom Advisor® designation.

You can also listen to the related podcast on this topic.