How Does Will vs Trust in 10 Minutes or Less (Attorneys Explain) Work?

Imagine you have two special helpers, one is Will, and the other is Trust, who help you give your stuff to people after you're gone.

Will is like a list of instructions that tells everyone exactly what you want to happen when you're not around anymore. It's like writing down, "When I’m gone, my toys go to my brother, and my candy goes to my sister."

Trust, on the other hand, is like giving someone a key to your treasure box. You don’t need to write down every single thing, just say, "I trust my mom with everything in this box," and she can decide what to do with it.

Why Do People Use Both?

Sometimes people use Will when they want things to be very clear, like a recipe for how their stuff should be shared. But if they use Trust, it’s more like giving someone the freedom to choose, just like when you give your friend a key to your snack drawer and let them pick what they want.

Using both can be like having two special helpers who each have different jobs, so everything gets done just right! Imagine you have two special helpers, one is Will, and the other is Trust, who help you give your stuff to people after you're gone.

Will is like a list of instructions that tells everyone exactly what you want to happen when you're not around anymore. It's like writing down, "When I’m gone, my toys go to my brother, and my candy goes to my sister."

Trust, on the other hand, is like giving someone a key to your treasure box. You don’t need to write down every single thing, just say, "I trust my mom with everything in this box," and she can decide what to do with it.

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A will is like a letter telling who gets what when you die; a trust is like a sealed envelope that can be opened by someone else before you die.
  2. If a person has a will, their family might need to go to court to get the inheritance; with a trust, everything can be given out smoothly without court.
  3. A child with a will might have to wait longer for their inheritance than one with a trust.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity

Categories: Science · will· trust· law· attorney· inheritance