Trusts are often used in estate planning to take advantage of favorable tax treatment to place conditions on the use or distribution of assets or to allow the heirs to take possession of assets without a probate proceeding the trustee holds the assets in a fiduciary capacity. Wills and trusts are both legal documents that your estate planning attorney will use to help you and your family achieve your estate planning goals often they are used together for example a trust may be drafted within a will to provide for minor children and a will is often used to make sure that any assets not transferred to a living trust during your lifetime are transferred to your trust upon death. A will and up to date beneficiary information will suffice for most estate plans but if you have substantial assets or especially complex circumstances you may want to consider a trust it will allow you to exercise greater control over your assets minimize taxes and potential lawsuits speed up the settlement of the estate and avoid probate court youll need to consult an estate planning attorney both to figure out what kind of trust you need and to legally establish that trust. Wills and trusts are both important estate planning tools but they differ in important ways first a trust is activated when the grantor signs it a will does not go into effect until the