[mrandish]

There are law firms that specialize in setting up trusts. We found a local firm who handled setting up a trust for our family and it was pretty straight forward and not very expensive. If your family has assets >$1M it's definitely something worth looking into (and quite possibly for lesser amounts too depending on your situation).

There are a variety of potential benefits (tax, inheritance, legal liability, etc) but one that shouldn't be underestimated is how much it can simplify the paperwork, process and delay at death vs just having a will. If you are elderly and have kids, creating a proper trust in sync with your will is one of the nicest things you can do for your kids. Having recently been through the death of a couple of parents, one who left a well-organized trust and the other who just had a standard will, the difference in work required and stress involved was night and day.