While trusts and wills serve the same purpose of passing over your estate to your loved ones, each has its pros and cons. It is possible to have the best of both worlds by utilizing a trust and a will in your estate plans.
Still, it is necessary to understand how these two estate planning tools work so that you can make the best decisions for your estate and loved ones. Below are the advantages of a will over a trust.
Your loved ones will avoid probate
A will must pass through probate, a process controlled by the court. It can be a long, tedious, and expensive process in which your loved ones have to wait until the end for them to take over their inheritance. However, a trust does not need to go through probate.
Trusts offer greater asset protection than a will
Unlike with a will where ownership passes over to beneficiaries, assets in a trust legally belong to it, and beneficiaries’ creditors cannot seize trust assets to recover outstanding debt. That way, a trust can provide protection to your family fortune for years to come, which a will can’t.
A trust gives you more control over your assets
Do you have a child with special needs? Do you need to provide for your grandchildren’s education? A trust can help you achieve specific goals you have in mind regarding your beneficiaries and how your estate assets should be used.
Understanding how a trust work
There are various kinds of trusts that you should carefully look into, from revocable to irrevocable trusts. Knowing how they operate and what to do when establishing a legally valid trust is crucial to your estate plans. When done right, a trust can give you peace of mind that your loved ones are in safe hands, unlike a will which may come with some uncertainties.