Living trusts offer a whole host of benefits. Your living trust will allow your estate to avoid probate which has a reputation as a painstakingly slow process. It can drag on for months, even years depending on the complexity of an estate.
With a living trust, you will avoid the costs associated with probate and your beneficiaries will not have to obtain permission from the court to access the funds in your bank accounts. You can choose to delay distribution to later dates (for example, on your beneficiary’s birthday). Since a living trust is not probated, it does not become a public record.
Like every other estate planning tool, living trusts have some disadvantages. Your trust can only control the assets you transfer into it. If you forget to change ownership of an asset, it won’t be covered by your living trust. You will have to pay upfront to have your trust document prepared. This cost can be more than the cost involved in having a will created and probating a small estate.