Wills vs. Trusts: Which Does Your Family Actually Need?
Key Takeaways
- A will directs asset distribution and names guardians for minor children; a trust can additionally avoid probate and manage how and when assets are distributed.
- Most people are well-served starting with a will - a trust becomes more valuable with significant assets, real estate in multiple states, or specific control over distribution timing.
- Trust ownership actually rose from 11% to 14% in 2026 even as will ownership dropped, according to Trust & Will’s 2026 Estate Planning Report - a signal that trusts are being adopted, just not by the people who need a will first.
“Should I get a will or a trust?” is one of the most common estate planning questions, and the honest answer for most people is that a will comes first, with a trust added later if the situation calls for it. As covered in the Make-A-Will Month guide, the underlying observance is really about getting the will step done - trusts are the more advanced, second step.
What a Will Actually Does
A will is a legal document that directs who inherits your assets, names an executor to carry out those instructions, and - critically for parents of minor children - names a guardian. It goes through probate, the court process that validates the will and oversees the estate’s distribution, which is public record and can take months depending on the state and estate complexity.
What a Trust Adds on Top of That
A trust can hold assets and distribute them according to specific terms, often without going through probate at all - which means faster distribution, more privacy (trusts generally aren’t public record the way probated wills are), and more control over timing, such as distributing an inheritance gradually rather than all at once. The tradeoff is complexity and cost: setting up and properly funding a trust (actually transferring assets into it) takes more work than executing a will.
Why Trust Ownership Is Rising While Will Ownership Falls
One of the more interesting findings in the 2026 Estate Planning Report is that trust ownership rose from 11% to 14% even as will ownership dropped from 31% to 26% over the same period. That’s a meaningful signal: more people are hearing about trusts and their benefits, but a lot of them are skipping the more basic - and for most people, more essential - step of getting a will done first. A trust doesn’t help if the will (or the absence of one) is still what governs assets outside the trust.
When a Will Alone Is Enough
For most people - a straightforward estate, one state of residence, no complex asset structure - a properly executed will covers what actually matters: who inherits, who’s in charge of the process, and who takes care of minor children. Adding a trust before a will is, in most cases, solving a more advanced problem before solving the basic one.
When It’s Worth Adding a Trust
A trust starts to add real value with significant or complex assets, real estate held in more than one state (which can otherwise trigger multiple states’ probate processes), a specific need for privacy, or a desire to control distribution timing - for instance, releasing an inheritance to a young beneficiary in stages rather than as a lump sum. See current LegalShield plans and pricing - trust preparation is included on Premium-tier plans, alongside standard will benefits on every tier.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need both a will and a trust? Often yes for more complex estates - a “pour-over will” is commonly used alongside a trust to catch any assets not formally transferred into the trust before death.
Is a trust only for wealthy families? No - while trusts add the most value with significant or complex assets, the underlying benefits (avoiding probate, controlling distribution timing) can matter for estates of varying sizes depending on the family’s specific goals.
Should I get a trust instead of a will? No - a trust doesn’t replace the need for a will, since a will still covers guardianship decisions and any assets not held in the trust.