Every August, National Make-A-Will Month encourages individuals and families to take an important step toward protecting their loved ones and planning for the future. Creating a will is an essential part of any estate plan, and if you don’t have one, there’s no better time to get started than the present.
However, what many people don’t realize is that having just a will is not serving you the way it could. While a will allows you to express your wishes and direct where certain assets should go after your passing, it does very little to protect your assets or the people you leave behind. For many families, the real protection comes from incorporating a trust into their estate plan.
At Estate Preservation Law Office (EPLO), we often tell clients that a will starts the conversation, but a trust is what truly protects your legacy.
A Will Has an Important Role
A will remains one of the most important legal documents you can have. It names who should receive your probate assets (assets owned by you alone without a listed beneficiary), allows parents to designate guardians for minor children, and ensures your wishes are clearly documented.
Without a will, state law determines how your probate estate is distributed, and those decisions may not reflect what you would have wanted.
However, even a properly drafted will typically requires portions of your estate to pass through probate before your loved ones are able to receive their inheritance. Probate can be time-consuming, expensive, and public, not to mention it can create additional stress during an already emotional time.
While a will is a critical piece of an estate plan for many people, it shouldn’t be the only piece.
Why a Trust Changes Everything
A trust offers protections and flexibility that a will alone cannot provide. Rather than waiting until after your death to direct the distribution of your assets, a trust allows you to manage and protect those assets both during your lifetime and after you’re gone.
One of the biggest advantages of a properly funded trust is probate avoidance. By allowing assets to pass outside of the probate process, a trust can save your loved ones significant time, expense, and frustration while keeping your affairs private.
Trusts also provide valuable protection for families with more unique circumstances. For example, if you have a child with special needs, a properly structured trust can help provide financial support without jeopardizing eligibility for essential government benefits. Instead of forcing loved ones to choose between an inheritance and the benefits on which they rely, trust planning allows both to work together.
For parents and grandparents, trusts can also protect inheritances for children and adult beneficiaries. Rather than distributing assets outright, a trust can shield those assets from creditors, lawsuits, divorce, and poor financial decisions while allowing you to decide just how and when the funds are distributed. Whether your beneficiaries are young adults just starting out or mature adults facing unexpected challenges, trust planning helps preserve the legacy you’ve worked so hard to build.
Protecting More Than Your Assets
Many people are surprised to learn that trusts can also play an important role in tax planning and long-term care planning. Depending on your circumstances, trust planning may provide tax protection strategies that help preserve more of your estate for your family instead of unnecessarily losing assets to taxes.
Certain trusts may also help protect assets from the high costs associated with nursing home care when the planning is done in advance. With proper legal guidance, families can often preserve their assets that might otherwise be depleted by long-term care expenses.
At their core, trusts are designed to shelter assets from creditors and other outside risks while giving families greater control over how their wealth is preserved and transferred.
Trust Planning Is for More Than the Wealthy
One of the most common misconceptions we hear is that trusts are only for people with substantial wealth. In reality, if you own a home, have retirement savings, want to leave an inheritance to your children, or simply want to make things easier for your family, a trust may provide benefits that far outweigh its cost.
Estate planning isn’t about the size of your estate. It’s about protecting what you’ve built and making sure your wishes are carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Build an Estate Plan That Does More
National Make-A-Will Month is an excellent reminder to review your estate plan or to finally create one if you haven’t already. But don’t stop at checking a will off your list.
Ask whether your plan truly protects your family. Does it help your loved ones avoid probate? Does it protect a child with special needs? Does it safeguard your children’s inheritance from creditors or life’s unexpected challenges? Does it include strategies for tax protection or nursing home planning?
If the answer is no to any of these questions, it may be time to explore whether a trust is right for you.
At EPLO, we help individuals and families alike create estate plans that do more than distribute assets; we help protect them. A thoughtfully designed trust can provide peace of mind today while preserving your legacy for generations to come.