| Having a single bullet point about using a trust is insufficient, as it is quite complicated to receive a trust. There are other options for managing estate planning that will work well for ordinary families (those with less than ~$28 million in total assets). The marketing around trusts is a classic information asymmetry. Law firms selling the service of setting up a trust know it’s not simple for heirs, but that is essentially repeat business for them. Many heirs will need to hire a lawyer to help retitle and transfer assets in the trust, and dissolve the trust if they want to personally control the assets. And people buying the service of setting up a trust will, by definition, never know how it ends up. (Maybe unless they themselves have received a trust.) A trust is a powerful tool for protecting wealth across generations. It’s not easier than basic inheritance. Edit to add: the easiest way to avoid probate is to designate beneficiaries on all your financial accounts. These supersede will instructions and avoid probate. You can do the same thing on vehicle titles, at least in some states. Real estate is more complicated so the easiest thing on your heirs is to not own any real estate at the time of your death. :-) Or if you have real estate you would like to pass on, that specifically is a good use case for a living trust (with only the real estate inside it). |