A will is a legal document that becomes effective at your death and specifies how your property is to be disposed of.  To be effective, a will must be acknowledged as valid through a court procedure known as probate.  A living trust also specifies how your property is to be disposed of at your death, but since it exists before your death, its validity does not need to be acknowledged by a probate proceeding.  It is this quality -- avoidance of probate -- that has brought the living trust most of its recent popularity.

Last updated on January 6, 2011 by Glenn Karisch