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Generally speaking there can be a lot of value in trusts...but moreso in terms of passing wealth on to your heirs while reducing tax liability.
Not sure I see the value in your scenario though?
Rising Star
Everyone should have a will - trusts are useful for some people, but not everyone. Based on what you've posted, you don't need a trust. All your accounts (401k, IRA, etc.) should have beneficiaries designated in the accounts; the same will be true for life insurance.
All valid points and basically what I was also thinking. The nice part of the trust approach I liked was the skipping probate portion (for the most part). Having experienced both dealing with probate of someone having a will and someone who did not, both options were a headache. And the trust allows for fin and medical control without a need for a power of attorney or living will.
That said, so long as the will is properly constructed to my wishes, I would think the process wouldn’t be as bad for my eventual kids.
Pro
I wouldn’t worry about an “eventual kid” unless there’s one actively in the works. Whether a will or a revocable trust, you’re going to have to redo it when you have a kid or get married or any other major life event.
Pro
Value of a trust for you seems limited. I’m setting up some insurance trusts now for estate tax planning purposes, but that doesn’t apply to you.
The other utility of a trust is to avoid probate, which can create paperwork and risk interrupting access to cash or assets for your heirs. But that only really matters if your heirs are financially dependent on you to provide for their day to day expenses such that if you die they need ready access to your estate to eat. Usually that’s for kids in case you die unexpectedly but could be other family members.
Anyway, neither seem to apply here. So it seems like a will is fine unless I’m missing something.
I think the will is useful for passing things into kids and any time real estate is involved. We did the trust once and any time we have edits we just send it over to the lawyer but it hasn’t cost us anymore, maybe because the edits have been pretty minor.
Pro
Recently did a round with an estate lawyer as well. Trust was recommended as spouse and I have assets separately and this will minimize probate and disruptions in getting access to the other's assets. For example in our state, without a trust half of the assets would automatically go into a state trust for our kids; which probably isn't the worst outcome, but does take away a lot of flexibility. We do not care much about avoiding taxation, but it also can help with that.
I agree it sounds of minimal utility if you are single and have no dependents.
If you just want to specify where major assets go as you listed, you can list beneficiaries with the institutions (knowing they may still go through probate and be subject to more taxation).
Do you have an estate worth 10M? Trust. Otherwise will should be fine.