Wills & Trusts 101
Which document exists tells you which path lies ahead.
In short
A will says who gets what and who is in charge, but it only speaks through probate. A trust holds assets outside that process entirely. Knowing which documents exist tells you which path the months ahead will take. Finding them is job one.
What a will does
Names the executor. Directs who inherits what sat in their sole name. Can name guardians for children.
It does not control assets with named beneficiaries or joint title; those pass on their own, whatever the will says.
That single fact resolves half the family confusion we see.
What a trust does
Holds assets so they pass without court involvement, privately and often faster.
If a living trust exists, the successor trustee steps in and administers it by its own terms, usually without probate.
Only assets actually retitled into the trust are covered. Anything left outside may still need the court.
Where documents hide
The file cabinet and desk. The safe deposit box. The attorney who drafted it.
The court, in states where wills are deposited or must be lodged. Among tax records.
If nothing turns up, the estate is likely intestate, which is a path, not a crisis.
Watch-outs
- Never mark, unstaple, or tidy an original will; alterations invite challenges. Courts want the original.
- If you find several wills, keep them all. The newest valid one generally controls, but let counsel confirm.
Sources
- A will is a legal document that says how property is distributed at death and lets you appoint an executor, and a living trust passes assets outside probate if the assets were put into the trustopens in a new tab
- An original will must be delivered to the court after the death, and an estate may need probate even when there is a willopens in a new tab
- Property with a named beneficiary, including property in a living trust, transfers outside the probate processopens in a new tab
- Fiduciary duties of a trustee managing money or property for someone elseopens in a new tab
Related
- Locating the will
- Probate 101
- When There Is No Will 101
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