According to the 2026 Estate Planning Report by Trust & Will, only 26% of U.S. adults reported having a will, while 14% reported having a trust. The survey also found that 56% had none of the estate-planning documents it tracked.
Will and trust are two of the instruments used for estate planning purposes, where the former tells the way the assets owned by a person will be distributed upon his/her death while naming a guardian for minor children.
A trust can hold and manage assets during a person’s lifetime and after death, and certain trusts can help beneficiaries avoid probate. The right option depends on a person’s assets, family situation, and goals.
According to Orange County estate planning lawyer Christopher P. Walker, an estate planning lawyer can help you create a will, trust, or other end-of-life plan to provide security to your loved ones. An elder law attorney also helps in the event an elderly individual is abused or exploited.
Let’s take a closer look at how each option works and which factors may influence your decision.
What a Will Does
A will states how a person’s property should be distributed after death and can name an executor to carry out those wishes. It speaks only to the time after death.
The California courts’ self-help guide points to a power of attorney and an advance health care directive for periods of illness or incapacity. It directs readers to a power of attorney and an advance health care directive for that purpose.
Wills also remain tied to the court system. The same guide explains that larger estates require the executor to open a probate case, so a will is a set of instructions that a court reviews and carries out. Handwritten wills are recognized in California without a witness, though other states set their own formalities.
Estate planning is all about managing your property while you’re alive and distributing it after your death, which, in California, will typically involve comparing wills, trusts, probate, and intestacy.
What a Living Trust Does
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a revocable living trust refers to a legal arrangement created by an individual who uses a document to authorize himself the ability to make decisions with regard to property or money kept within the trust. There are three parties involved.
The grantor establishes the trust and serves as the trustee while alive. It is the responsibility of the trustee to manage the trust’s property and the job of the successor trustee when the trustee is unable to serve. The beneficiaries get funds or property from the trust.
It is important to note that unlike a will, a trust does not take effect until the grantor moves money or property to the trust. Since the grantor is able to use the resources, like living in a house and naming someone else to take care of the money when the grantor loses his decision-making ability, the trust takes effect while he is alive.
Trust and will questions are not limited to one region. According to the Orsbon & Fenninger website https://www.orsbonandfenninger.com/, the Charlotte, North Carolina, firm lists wills, living trusts, trust administration, and probate among its estate planning and administration services.
Where the Two Documents Differ
Probate provides a clear-cut dividing line. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a frequent justification for establishing a trust is that one wants to bypass the probate process because it can be costly and time-consuming.
California’s court guide says that assets placed in a trust should go to the beneficiaries after death without going through probate. A will, by contrast, is usually the document a court reviews during probate.
Incapacity is a second dividing line. A will has no force until death, while a trust can name a person to manage property if the grantor cannot. Funding is a third. While the creation of a will does not necessarily require transferring property, the transfer of property is needed for the implementation of the trust.
As for complexity and expenses, the difference is also significant since, according to the California guide, trusts are complex legal instruments, which is why people opt for one or another option depending on the size and composition of their estates and the amount of administration they can handle.
Using Both Documents Together
These two legal documents are not incompatible with each other. A trust deals with the assets held in the trust. On the other hand, a will can be used for assets that have not been included in the trust.
Probate thresholds, formalities, and trust rules change by state and over time. That is why a state court’s self-help pages are the natural place to confirm what currently applies.
When comparing a will and a trust, it is important to understand what each one does, when it takes effect, and which assets it covers. Neither option is right for every situation.