In most cases, the answer is no. But a living trust does not waive a magic wand over your estate making all your administration troubles disappear. What has fueled popularity of living trusts is the public's fear of probate in particular, and its even more pervasive fear and distrust of attorneys and the court system. All too often, the trust mills and other non-attorney trust promoters exaggerate these fears to entice unsuspecting consumers into buying their living trust packages. Thus, to understand the allure of living trusts, one must first understand what probate is and why everyone is so afraid of it.
Probate is the system that developed in England in the Middle Ages to avoid such chaos.
Since our laws are derived from the law of England, the probate system was been passed down to us and is still in use today. Living trusts avoid probate because, unlike a will, the trust does not have to be proved in court and the successor trustee does not have to be appointed by the court in order to take charge of decedent's affairs. In the typical case, the administration baton is simply passed at death from the settlor-trustee to a named successor trustee with no court involvement. The successor trustee then assumes the job of carrying out the settlor's instructions as set forth in the trust instrument. In reality, the only difference between probate and post-death administration of a living trust is that probate is supervised by the court.