An arrangement you set up while you're alive that holds property and spells out how it's managed and who it goes to. Property held in one generally passes according to the trust rather than through the court process a will goes through — which is the main reason families look at them.
Trust Versus Will
A will gives instructions that get carried out through a court process. A trust is a structure that already holds the property, so the transfer can happen without that process.
Both are legitimate tools. Which is appropriate depends on what you own, where you own it, and your family — and plenty of people sensibly have both.
The Step Families Forget
Setting up a trust and actually moving property into it are two separate jobs. An empty trust accomplishes nothing. This is one of the most common and most expensive oversights in estate planning.
If you've had one drawn up, it's worth confirming that what you intended to be in it is in it.
Get It Done by an Attorney
Trust law is state law and the drafting matters enormously. The difference between a document that does what you meant and one that creates a problem is often in language that looks unremarkable.
Your attorney drafts it; your CPA should see it, because the tax treatment of different arrangements varies. If you want help thinking about how it fits the rest of the plan, that's a conversation.
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