Trusts, Privacy, and a Little Respect

People often ask us questions like “How much money in assets should I have to warrant doing a trust?” Our answer revolves around questions such as “What are your concerns?” and “What are you trying to accomplish?” A significant reason that people choose to do trusts is that trusts are private. Notice only goes to the beneficiaries about the trust once a person becomes a beneficiary. With a will and any type of probate action, all of your natural family and heirs receive notice, and all of your estate information is public. One might say that telling a disinherited child that they are disinherited in a million-dollar estate—and that there is an open probate to which they can object—is kind of like “poking a bear.”