Should You Have a Will or Living Trust?

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When people put their legal affairs in order, they have a decision to make. One of the questions they have to answer is, “ Should I use a Last Will and Testament (“Will”) as the legal instrument to pass along my estate to my heirs, or should I use a Revocable Living Trust (“Living Trust”)?
Let’s start with the basics. If you use a Will to pass your estate to your survivors, you’ll like have provisions leaving your estate, or parts of it, to your spouse, your children or others, or perhaps even leaving assets to a trust the terms of which are part of your Will (called a “testamentary trust”) that will be established with assets after your death.
With a “Will Plan,” you leave title to all your assets in your name: your home, your other real estate, your investments, and so forth. When you die, your assets are frozen (even though you had a Will), and your survivors must retain an attorney or attorneys to go through the court-supervised process of transferring assets to the people who are named in your Will.
If you have a Living Trust, your Living Trust will be prepared, for example, so that after you pass away, your trust provides that your estate, or parts of it, are to be transferred from your trust to your spouse, your children or others, or assets may remain in trust for the benefit of minors, irresponsible heirs, or heirs who are receiving government benefits so that they should not inherit assets in their name. When you establish your Living Trust, you will likely work with your estate attorney to transfer title of assets to your trust, such as your home, other real estate, investments, and so forth.
When you die, trust assets are not frozen. Attorneys and the court system do not have to get involved in the trust settlement because the court system only governs assets that are titled in your name when you die. In your Living Trust, you designated a Successor Trustee or Co-Trustees who will have immediate authority to transfer assets from your trust. Many people perceive it that their Living Trust replaces the Will.
So, which program should you have? It’s ultimately your decision, and some people make decisions like this based on their prior life experiences. Will clients often tell us something like, “When my mother died 12 years ago, I don’t remember her probate being too difficult. We had to do the probate to get the house in our names, but we were not in a big hurry.”
We hear from some Will clients the something like the following, “I don’t have any children so if my distant relatives and favorite charities named in my Will have to go through probate, so be it…I’ll be dead.”
Trust clients often tell us something like, “When my father died, his probate took years and it was difficult and expensive, and I don’t want my kids to go through that, so let’s set up a Living Trust.”
We’ll also hear, “My spouse and I want to make things as easy as we can on the surviving spouse when one of us passes, so let’s establish a Trust.”
Other Living Trust clients say, “If my spouse and I can establish a Living Trust and avoid the future delays and expenses of two probates (one when each of us dies), then a Living Trust seems like a no-brainer.”
And other Living Trust clients tell us, “We pre-arranged our funerals to make things as easy on our survivors and we’d like to do the same kind of pre-planning and pre-arrangements for our estate.”
Now, if you go the Living Trust route, make sure you watch my popular KZbin video titled, “If You Have a Revocable Living Trust, Watch This Now,” which address the important topic of trust funding.
Bottom line or Will vs. Living Trust? Take action. Talk to an estate attorney. Hopefully the attorney’s own biases don’t preclude you from making an informed decision. But get started. Failing to act puts the government in complete control of your estate, and who wants that?
This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Rabalais Estate Planning, LLC, through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship.
Paul Rabalais
Estate Planning Attorney
www.RabalaisEstatePlanning.com
Phone: [phone]

[@iamthenews5624]

Trust: Leave Assets are titled to the Trust; Will: Courts and Lawyers disperse assets; It takes time; it’s expensive

[@peiling826]

Thanks!

[@ehRalph]

Parents had Trusts, we used a para-legal service to handle state/federal filings, taxes, and final closure of the trust. Dividing assets among siblings was done by trust successor trustee/executor- The house was retitled, rented and sold. The trust involved multiple brokerage firms and a handful of individual stocks. Dealing with these ranged from easy to complicated because each asset (mutual fund or stock) has different forms and rules…… the idea was to transfer everything to a single brokerage firm (Schwab) before doing distributions to beneficiaries. In a few cases certain stock transfers had too much red-tape (BNY Mellon P&P) - in that case, the assets were sold and the funds transferred to the trust account. Process went on over a couple years. *** note keep an account open for a long time - the IRS showed up 3 years later and wanted to refund a couple hundred dollars with a check payable to a non-existent entity. They were willing to change the payee from ___ to ___&___.

[@merrilllewis3926]

One thing a "will" does upon your passing is bring to light the lack of character among siblings.

[@user-ly8ft2wb1c]

Ain’t that the truth.

[@KMaddox]

@@user-ly8ft2wb1c so cynical and not always true; maybe sometimes. My 2 siblings and I worked as a loving team to settle our parent's estate. And, we are very close to this day.

[@user-ly8ft2wb1c]

@@KMaddox - Didn’t say “always”… my experience now in my 70’s has been nothing but entitlement, greed & scheming opportunists.

[@sherriebeazley8150]

My mom left me trustee and I so glad because I didn't have a problem taking care of her final stuff. I didn't have to wait to do anything so I got things done in . It was less stressful than if I had to deal with probate court . I would highly recommend people to do that. She did a living trust.

[@earthangel6858]

So you don’t need both?

[@sherriebeazley8150]

@@earthangel6858 she had both will and trust but the trust is what is the main important one.

[@luckygoose2024]

How about the tax ? If will , it’s inheritance, so if the children sell the property, they don’t need to pay tax . How about trust , if the children sell it , do they need to pay capital gain tax ?

[@sherriebeazley8150]

@@luckygoose2024 where I live you have to inherit 14 million before you get tax if you're left something

[@luckygoose2024]

@@sherriebeazley8150 I live in Australia. I have a will now but I’m thinking to swap it with a living trust if I already understand in details . I only afraid that it will cause more tax than the probate cost . In Australia, everything is taxed but inheritance is free of tax . If I make a living trust , it means it’s not an inheritance anymore . And if I leave a property to my children , will it be treated as an investment for them , if they already have their own property? And do they have to pay capital gain tax if one day they sell the property?

[@robertklose2140]

Thank you for this clearly-presented explanation

[@trinachase6959]

Got the answer I was looking for. Thank you!

[@Timetravel1111]

Thank you.

[@hairsablessingchannel6306]

Great information. Very clear.

[@womenschooloftransformation]

Thank you🎉

[@lnlillard]

Do I have to make any ant changes to my bank accounts to put it into a trust?

[@user-pp8ly2wn6t]

Thank you a lot for this video. This is very interesting and informative. Keep posting like those amazing videos, this is awesome.

[@peiling826]

It is very informative.

[@mgran358]

Thank you

[@dks13827]

I paid $27,000 for probate in 2 states.

[@user-iv8np9uk4o]

Why is two state ?

[@masterj7155]

I had to do probate during covid. That was not fun.

[@cheryllove7995]

A short direct form is something I would be interested in

[@amayagarcia3937]

C c b

[@amayagarcia3937]

0

[@lesterjeffries682]

I was thinking about a video will that explain what I want all the asset to go, will that work as a living or trust will?

[@5metoo]

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="465">7:45</a> Paul says spouses might set up a trust to avoid 2 probates. Under what circumstances would a surviving spouse need to probate assets?

[@edwizard62]

I'm more confused than before the video.

[@jackiemansfield8325]

I have nobody in this world, no friends, and need to have somebody to be the power of attorney to manage the sale of my house to benefit Animal charity, in case I pass away. What should I do?

[@Normanskie]

Attorney, isn't this an American terminology as I am English so does this apply to me then?

[@eugenefernandez4377]

How much do you Charge?

[@gezakennaiii1585]

If your father didn’t leave a will and you have to get a probate bond, if the estate is in debt. What do you put on the release form?

[@user-gt5tc3mk7u]

where you have to go to do a living trust

[@mendesoto]

This was as clear to me, as quick sand

[@wjb111]

Clear as Mud!!

[@PouroneStoppers]

A plus

[@HB-yq8gy]

That's the problem estate planning attorneys want to be money managers control everything ! I went to a seminar NJ estate planning attorney she was fear-mongering probate how costly it is and back then the 675000 estate tax but now they increased it to 2 million. Like a dummy I got hooked then retitle all my assets in to the trust. her name/firm was on like everything did feel comfortable very confusing then she became my cfp. So I went to another attorney undid it. got a new will / pour-over trust. I had to hire a title company to retitle my house in condo back into my name's husband & wife.

[@DonkeyLipsDA3rd]

Pour over still has to go through probate. I dont knowing that matters to you or not. I'm from Jersey I am still on the fence on deciding to go with a will or trust.

[@HB-yq8gy]

@@DonkeyLipsDA3rd Yeah I hear you you gotta do your due diligences. D M you gotta check out "iTunes" or use app from "Podcast Player" for Android. www.bigpictureretirement.com if you want to learn a lot about trust and estate planning these guys are awesome a listen to all the episodes. open.spotify.com/episode/02fJ3tXmjsC3MHr8VEfqe7?si=_CXCR7AsTOGuZgUSLoKmzQ

[@dks13827]

@@DonkeyLipsDA3rd In AZ we can get a beneficiary deed for our house to go to kids. All other accounts have beneficiaries listed, the 2 kids. No probate necessary in this example.

[@jackfrosty4674]

@@dks13827 But check out medicaid. five year look back to recapture medicaid care cost.

[@jasminkelley934]

@@jackfrosty4674 what does this mean?

[@LeNguyen-im8dm]

Hello, please help me answer. I only have one daughter and she is 14. She is the only one that I claim in all my bank accounts and stock accounts. There are many hundred thousand dollars now. Do I still have to do the will or living trust for her? I am afraid that when I die, she has a hard time to get $.

[@sikwitit2494]

So what did you just say?

[@graceeb4835]

Can successor co-trustees also be the beneficiaries of the trust?

[@jasonv1806]

Yes

[@mikepeterson7175]

I don’t understand why a Will and a Trust both exist. Why not always just Dona Trust if it’s not that much more complicated. I don’t get it.

[@Dandelionhopes]

The trust cost is higher than a will

[@danflaherty1132]

Very clear, thanks. However I still am unclear about one thing: Are wills and living trusts mutually exclusive? In other words if I have a trust can/should I also have a will?

[@blessedniang9376]

I think you should have both. But most definitely a living trust with an incapacity clause.

[@smargo7884]

So apparently things weren’t very clear

[@danflaherty1132]

@@smargo7884 Haha. Estate planning is never clear to me.

[@lynej2011]

@@smargo7884 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@westsidewizard714]

where does will vs trust come in to the video?

[@mariasmith4532]

What about when you have both

[@user-mk5dj3bk5q]

Why r so many people telling me a trust is better? They say a will they will start taxing me on the house I will get???

[@janeblancaflor1567]

How do someone make a will if there's no proerty or money involve?

[@Classyo1nelife]

I would think, word it to state future earnings and assets

[@mdgraystone]

Word Salad

[@dks13827]

My buddy had a vindictive angry Dad who tore up his will. Took 6 years to do probate. Bunch of money. How do you like that ?

[@americasestateplanninglawy1946]

I suppose you would put on the red hat 😱

[@Justnarinah]

No one contacted the attorney who drafted the will in this situation? The attorney should have had a copy.

[@buyerbware25]

@@Justnarinah Attorney should have it, but Mr. Rabalais has a video about why people should not rely on an attorney to keep a will.

[@hphan90]

Very interesting topics but I wish someone can put it in a short, simple way to understand.

[@user-mk5dj3bk5q]

Same here I still don't get it. Close friends r telling me to have my dad change the will into a trust because the state will tax me so much on my dad's house I will lose it? Wtf I don't understand. Now I have to look up hours of this sfuff

[@audreyking2550]

1 farm and 1 child 1 grandchild

[@bryanr435]

Hello I’ve been watching your videos for a while and I was wondering if you might be interested in looking at a trust that I am in there’s four of us in the trust. I just want an attorney to read it and tell me my options in the future thank you my name is Bryan Rowland. Please let me know.

[@Thisworldisdoomed]

This is such bull I own a house and when I pass away I want this person to have it.. it should be as simple as that. I don't want the state courts or the government getting involved with my stuff 🖕

[@azore5763]

Most states allow you to set up a transfer of death (TOD) deed where you get to name a beneficiary for your house after you pass away.

[@goaretebarreto5154]

But they will it’s called probate I just went through it. It took about nine months and they take a percentage. If you have value of like 500,000 they take about 14,000 that’s how it works.

[@terrimccallum6164]

Rus your violating this will of Charles mcilwain Jr your giving his money away WOW lawsuit coming

[@dougB4454]

Talks and talks and says nothing.

[@user-mk5dj3bk5q]

I thought I was the only one. Why can't he just say what's better????? I keep hearing a trust is better because the state can't tax me on everything

[@DiamondsRexpensive]

Lawyer Tactics 101 😂

[@mr_mumbles_]

I thought this was a very helpful video, not sure what isn’t helpful about it. The better choice is a matter of you weighing which one fits you best

[@ankitpatels1986]

Tell me more, need help sir

[@TehKaiser]

He can't give legal advice. Whether one way is better depends on the situation. Trusts are better when children are not unethical. If the children or heirs are not reliable, then probate might be better.

[@Nike2141]

If my father wants to leave all his property to me and I am his only living child would it be better for him to set up a trust or a will. He has a home and a few vehicles.

[@azcactusflower1]

Find a reputable estate planner. My mother had both a will and trust. She quit deed her farm land to my brother and her home joint tenancy to me. Secure assets can be dealt with before he passes. But defintely a qualified estate planner is highly recommended. The laws in each state vary. Recommend a will and trust. Have a deep talk about his wishes should he become incapacitated.