Will vs. Trust: What’s the Difference?
Updated: Aug 24
What is a will vs a trust?
I think of the trust as a will substitute. A will says who gets what under what circumstances and who is in charge of making that happen. A trust does the same thing, but goes about it in a little different way. The critical difference between a will and a trust is when they become effective. A trust is effective on the day that you sign it. A will is not effective until the day that you pass away and it's admitted in probate court. A will has to be filed with probate court and determined to be valid in order for the person nominated in your will to take any action on the terms of your will. So the will becomes a public record the same way it would in any other judicial proceeding.
The trust, on the other hand, is a completely private document. The only people who need to see the trust are the people who are named as beneficiaries in the trust, and the successor trustee that you've named to handle the trust. If you pass away. A trust is a more seamless process, because your successor trustee does not need to go to court in order to take action on behalf of the trust. So a trust is a more private document and a more efficient way of enabling people to take action on your behalf and protect your beneficiaries without having to go to court. So a will and a trust are trying to achieve the same objective, but they go about it in different ways. One is public and one is private, and more efficient.
