Will vs. Trust: How They Differ

A will and a revocable living trust solve slightly different problems, and many people end up with both. This guide describes what each one does.

A will is a legal document that takes effect when you die. It tells the court, and the world, who should receive your assets, who should raise your minor children, and who should manage the process of settling your estate.

A will must go through probate: the court-supervised process of validating the document, paying debts, and transferring assets to beneficiaries. Probate is public (anyone can look up what you owned and who received it), takes time (typically 6 to 18 months), and costs money (court fees, attorney fees, executor fees).

A will also does something a trust cannot: name a guardian for minor children. It is one reason people who have a trust often have a will as well.

A revocable living trust is a legal entity you create during your lifetime. You transfer assets into the trust: your house, your bank accounts, your investments. You remain the trustee while you're alive, so you keep full control. When you die, the assets inside the trust transfer directly to your named beneficiaries without going through probate.

Because the trust controls the assets (not your estate), probate is skipped entirely for those assets. Distribution can happen in days or weeks rather than months. It's also private. Trust distributions don't appear in public court records.

A trust can also include instructions for disability: if you become incapacitated, a successor trustee you named takes over management of your assets without court involvement.

Probate: A will goes through probate. A trust avoids it.

Privacy: A will becomes a public record. A trust stays private.

Cost and complexity: A will is simpler and cheaper to create. A trust requires funding. You must actually re-title assets into the trust for it to work. An asset left outside the trust does not pass under it unless a pour-over will moves it there through probate.

Guardianship: Only a will can name a guardian for minor children. A trust cannot.

Timing: A will only takes effect at death. A trust is active during your lifetime and can handle incapacity.

Cost to administer: A will incurs probate costs. A trust generally costs less to administer after death (but more to set up).

People commonly use a revocable living trust when:

• You own real estate in more than one state (probate must be opened in each state where you own property) • Your estate is large or complex • You value privacy and don't want your assets and beneficiaries listed in a public court record • You want your affairs managed seamlessly if you become incapacitated • You want assets distributed quickly, without waiting for probate to close

People whose estates are modest, whose assets mostly already carry beneficiary designations (IRAs, life insurance, 401(k)s), and who are comfortable with probate often go without one.

Many people, especially earlier in life or with simpler estates, start with a will. A will names who receives what, a guardian for minor children, and an executor to manage the process.

A trust adds work. Assets have to be re-titled into it, and new assets re-titled as they are acquired. Many people create a trust and never re-title their assets into it. Assets left outside a trust do not pass under it, except through a pour-over will in probate.

See our guide on lawyers and wills →

Most people who create a trust also create a "pour-over will," a simple will that says any assets not in the trust at your death should flow into the trust. This catches anything you forgot to transfer or acquired after creating the trust. It still goes through probate for those assets, but it keeps everything organized under one plan.

A trust cannot name a guardian for minor children, so people with a trust usually sign a will too, to name a guardian and to catch stray assets.