What can a trust accomplish that a will cannot?

When you draft your will in North Carolina, you may find that there are limits to what it accomplishes. A will gives you a chance to say where you want your assets to end up after you die. However, you may have additional estate planning needs that you are unable to see to fruition through a will. In this scenario, you may want to consider creating one or more types of trusts.

According to Kiplinger, trusts offer many benefits, and you do not have to have considerable assets to make creating one worthwhile. Instead, you may want to create this type of fiduciary arrangement for one of the following reasons, among others.

To protect beneficiary public assistance eligibility

If you have heirs who utilize Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income or another type of need-based aid, you may make your beneficiary ineligible to receive that aid anymore if you leave him or her assets in a traditional manner. Assets left in a will may place your beneficiary above the threshold needed to qualify for benefits. However, assets you leave someone in a trust do not count as “theirs,” helping you leave assets behind without threatening someone’s public assistance eligibility.

To leave assets on a conditional basis

A trust also gives you more power when it comes to when your beneficiaries inherit what you leave behind. If you want a beneficiary to inherit what you leave him or her only after doing something specific, such as graduating college or overcoming a substance dependency, a trust gives you a chance to make these determinations.

Many people choose to make trusts part of their estate plans for these reasons. However, there are many other things you may also be able to do with a trust that a will does not enable you to accomplish.