Editing Trust (law) (section)

==== Estate planning ====
{{Main|Estate planning}}
Living trusts, as opposed to testamentary (will) trusts, may help a trustor avoid [[probate]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Caraway|first1=David|title=Testamentary Trusts|url=http://www.nycbar.org/get-legal-help/article/wills-trusts-and-elder-law/trusts/testamentary-trusts/|website=New York City Bar|access-date=14 December 2017|date=April 2015|archive-date=15 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215000720/http://www.nycbar.org/get-legal-help/article/wills-trusts-and-elder-law/trusts/testamentary-trusts/|url-status=live}}</ref> Avoiding probate may save costs and maintain privacy and living trusts have become very popular.<ref>American Bar Association. Ch.5 ''[http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/publiced/practical/books/wills/chapter_5.authcheckdam.pdf Living Trusts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616193731/http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/publiced/practical/books/wills/chapter_5.authcheckdam.pdf |date=16 June 2013 }}''. Appears to be online copy of: ''[https://archive.org/details/americanbarassoc00amer The American Bar Association guide to wills and estates]'' (1995). See also [http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/publiced/practical/books/wills/chapter_4.authcheckdam.pdf Ch. 4, Trusts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616202020/http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/publiced/practical/books/wills/chapter_4.authcheckdam.pdf |date=16 June 2013 }}.</ref> Probate is potentially costly, and probate records are available to the public while distribution through a trust is private. Both living trusts and wills can also be used to plan for unforeseen circumstances such as incapacity or disability, by giving discretionary powers to the trustee or executor of the will.

Negative aspects of using a living trust as opposed to a will and probate include upfront legal expenses, the expense of trust administration, and a lack of certain safeguards. The cost of the trust may be 1% of the estate per year versus the one-time probate cost of 1 to 4% for probate, which applies whether or not there is a [[Intestate|drafted will]]. Unlike trusts, wills must be signed by two to three witnesses, the number depending on the law of the jurisdiction in which the will is executed. Legal protections that apply to probate but do not automatically apply to trusts include provisions that protect the decedent's assets from mismanagement or embezzlement, such as requirements of [[surety bond|bonding]], [[insurance]], and itemized accountings of probate assets.