Is a Will Better Than a Trust?
Wills & Trusts
Coming up with how to handle your money and affairs after you die may not seem like a priority, but it should be. Leaving your family with no guidelines and no real plan can make an already hard time even worse. The most basic estate document you should create is a will. But what about other elements? There are other ways you can take care of your family that may go along with a will that make getting the things you want to leave them easier. Find out what you should have in your plan and why a will may be the primary document, but also why it should not be the only one.
What Does a Will Do?
A will is a document that allows you the chance to name people to whom you want to leave your belongings and assets. You can decide who gets what, including property, bank accounts and personal heirlooms, and you can indicate these choices in a will. You also name a person who is the administrator or executor of the will. This should be someone you believe has the ability to follow your wishes, take your will through probate and do what needs doing through it all. If you do not create another estate document, you should at least draft a will.
What Is a Trust?
A trust is a tool that financial advisors may urge you to create for some of your assets. Estate planning attorneys may also advocate for a trust account. These are accounts that you open into which you deposit assets such as property and cash. When you do that, the value of those things is removed from your personal accounting and placed in the trust for safekeeping. You create the terms under which the trust is open and passed to the person or persons you wish to give it to. Your death is just one condition under which a trust can be administered to the grantee.
Which Is Better?
It is difficult to choose between a will and a trust simply because they both handle things differently. You cannot deposit everything you own in a trust, so a will is still a must. However, one of the benefits of a trust is that the beneficiary receives the proceeds without waiting for probate. This could potentially allow your family to get some fast access to cash in a dire time.
There does not need to be a choice between a trust and a will. An estate planning lawyer from a firm like Yee Law Group, PC can allocate property and assets to both, allowing you to handle all of your post-life affairs in two documents.
