Estate Planning Basics Attorney in Phoenix, Arizona
What is the difference between a trust and will?
What is the difference between a trust and will?
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so there are a lot of differences
between a trust based plan and a Will
based plan one that a lot of clients are
attracted to is the probate avoidance so
with a properly funded trust uh we can
avoid the court process called probate
where uh the successors need to go
collect assets so that’s one of the main
differences is that a trust will not
need to go through that process assuming
you’ve done the work of retitling the
assets to the name of the trust uh while
you’re alive a will on the other hand
will require a probate um in order to
administer the Estate another difference
between a trust and a will-based plan is
that uh trust can allow more flexibility
um you can set up um asset protection
for your beneficiaries and um this can
be really attractive um because you know
the future is uncertain we don’t know
what things are uh beneficiaries are
going to be involved in in the Life
circumstances that they’re going to be
faced with so a trust will allow us to
include Provisions that will um allow
the most flexibility for them another
difference between a trust based plan
and a Will based plan is that a trust
will allow some more flexibility the
future is uncertain and we don’t always
know what kind of Life circumstances uh
the beneficiaries will be involved in
and what you as a trust maker will be
involved in and so a trust will allow
the most flexible planning because we
can provide for different methods of
distri contribution depending on what
those life circumstances look like so
another difference between a trust and a
will is that a trust can allow for more
flexible planning we don’t always know
what circumstances uh our beneficiaries
and um ourselves as as individuals are
going to be involved in and so a trust
will allow for more tools that we can
put in um dep so that way we can plan
for all those uncertainties including
you know if a beneficiary has any sort
of creditor ISS issues or going through
divorce proceeding or let’s say they’re
on government benefits um and we need to
be able to preserve those benefits and
still allow them to receive an
inheritance the trust based plan will
allow us to give the will allow us to
give our successors all the tools to
really be able to navigate those
situations if a trust is set up that way
so another difference between a trust
and a will is that a trust uh will exist
during your lifetime it’s a it’s an
agreement that you make with yourself as
trustee and beneficiary to to manage
your resources for yourself while you’re
alive and then um for the benefit of
your beneficiaries upon your passing and
so that document is alive while you’re
alive and it can change um a will can
also change um while you’re alive but it
really only comes into play after you’ve
passed away so we can’t do the same sort
of planning for your own Capa incapacity
with a will um that we can do with a
trust however we also can do Powers of
Attorney that can um add some of that
incapacity planning even if you do go
with a will-based plan one last
difference that I wanted to mention
between a will and a trust is that a
trust um can help preserve some of the
Privacy if there aren’t any uh disputes
or issues with the trust then it won
need to go through the court process at
all so we can kind of keep that
information private versus a will will
require a probate and so we will need to
submit that document to the court um so
some clients care about that and some
don’t but it just really depends on what
your goals are and what your values are
Phoenix, AZ estates & probate attorney Kaylee McMains talks about the difference between a trust and will.
