What are the benefits of a trust?

Trusts have three primary benefits.

BENEFIT #1 - Avoiding Court

The first benefit of having a trust is to avoid probate court. 

A lot of clients mistakenly believe that if they have a Will then they don’t have to worry about probate court - that is false. 

The exact opposite is actually true - a Will is specifically designed to be submitted to the probate court in order to be validated whereas a Trust (if done properly) completely avoids the probate court process.

So if you want to keep your property out of probate court, then a Trust is generally your best option.

BENEFIT #2 - Protecting Your Children’s Inheritance

The second benefit of having a Trust is to protect your children’s inheritance. Depending on your family circumstances what that protection looks like can vary.

For example, some clients use Trusts to protect against nursing home care situations. Other clients use Trusts to protect against remarriage risk situations (in other words, if you die and your spouse remarries, you don’t want your assets going to the new spouse or his/her children). Some clients use Trusts to protect government benefits, most applicable in situations where they have a disabled or special-needs child. And some clients use Trusts to protect the assets for kids while they are minors or young adults because as long as the money is held in Trust (and assuming the trust is structured properly) the assets can be protected from creditors. The same concept applies if a client is concerned about a child getting divorced in the future (they don’t want to see their assets go to their ex-daughter-in-law or ex-son-in-law).

So if you want to protect your children’s inheritance, a Trust can be a great way to do that.

BENEFIT #3 - Taxes, taxes, taxes

The third major benefit of having a trust is to save on taxes. 

Most clients are concerned about estate taxes which is obviously a big deal if you live in Massachusetts and have over two million assets, or, if you live in any state and have over the federal threshold (which we expect to be cut in half in 2026).

Since no one wants to pay taxes, they often ask me how to structure their Trust in a way to minimize taxes, which could include concerns about income taxes, estate taxes, or even generation-skipping transfer taxes.

SUMMARY

Trusts have three major benefits: to keep your property out of probate court and make things as easy as possible for your children; to protect your children’s inheritance in various scenarios; and to help your family save or minimize taxes.

Do you already have a Trust, but aren’t sure how it works? I’d be happy to review it for you and answer any questions you may have.

Would you like to set up a Trust? I’d be happy to help you create a Trust that addresses whatever concerns you may have.

Click the button below to schedule a time to speak with me.