Do I need a trust, or is a will enough?
Answered by Cheryl Heikka
Financial Strategist · Your One Agency
A will and a trust do different jobs. A will says who gets what and who raises your kids, but it goes through probate, a public, sometimes slow court process. A revocable living trust can skip probate entirely: assets titled in the trust's name pass directly to your beneficiaries, privately and usually faster. Trusts matter more when you have minor children (structured payouts instead of a lump sum at 18), a blended family, property in more than one state, or want more control over how and when heirs receive money. For a simple, single state estate with grown kids, a will alone is often enough. Setting one up is attorney work, and just as important, your accounts and property have to actually be retitled into it. That second step is the one people skip, and it quietly defeats the whole point of having a trust.
The gap most people miss
Most people who'd benefit from a trust don't have one, and most people who do have one never retitled their accounts into it, so it isn't actually doing anything.
A coordinated review checks whether a trust fits your situation, and whether an existing one is actually funded, working with the estate attorney circle on the document itself.