What is the difference between a will and a trust?
A Trust is a way of transferring your property to an artificial legal entity or “person” (the Trust) before your death, while still having the use and/or control of it during your lifetime. There are two kinds of Trusts, revocable and irrevocable. If the Trust is revocable you can change it or decide to take the property back any time during your life. If the Trust is irrevocable, you cant change it once you have set it up. If you name yourself as the sole Trustee of your Trust during your lifetime, you will be able to manage the Trust while you are alive. The Trust owns the legal title to the property in it while you are still alive, and since a Trust does not end at your death, it will still own the property when you die. You put instructions in the Trust for how the Trustee, or person controlling the Trust, should distribute the Trust property, and the Trustee will carry out those directions. Only property owned by the deceased at the time of death has to go through the court proces
The primary purpose of a will is to give directions on how your property will be distributed upon your death. Property distributed by a will requires a Probate and is distributed directly to the beneficiaries at the end of the probate. At that point, the property belongs to the beneficiary and is subject to any debts or obligations the beneficiary may have. Wills can also contain instructions regarding the care of minor children, gifts to charity, and foundations. In order for a will to be legally valid, you must sign the will in the presence of two witnesses, you must be mentally competent, and not acting under duress or under the controlling influence of another. Trusts are legal entities that can replace or supplement wills, as well as help manage property during your life. Most people set up trusts in order to try to avoid probate. Unfortunately, most trusts fail to do this because they are not properly funded. However, it is also possible to accomplish many things with a trust tha
