Correct me if I'm wrong but this is my experience with a trust. I set up a trust with an Attorney when my kids were young as I was a single parent. The first Attorney said "put everything in the trust" and we sat there and I signed everything needed to name all my assets except my car as the trust. My kids got older, more responsible, assets grew and I bought a second home. A discussion with friends led to trusts and I said my Attorney wanted everything in the trust. Someone said, "of course he does, because when you die, he's going to take a percentage of all your assets". So, that kind of upset me, so I gradually removed my bank accounts and investment accounts including IRAs and just did transfer on death to both my sons. I decided to get a 2nd opinion and now only had 2 homes in the trust. That Attorney said if I trusted my kids to do OK inheriting a large lump sum, then the TOD is OK, but keep the houses in the trust since they are in 2 different states. Well, I went to sell one of the homes and since it was in the trust, the sale required my lawyer, which was an added cost that I was never told would be the case. I have since sold the 2nd home, also requiring lawyer and then purchased a new home in Ohio. Ohio allows TOD of your home so I filled out everything necessary for that and submitted to the County Clerk. So now, nothing is in my trust. Both my sons are responsible. One will be executor of estate and he knows he will need to have the trust closed for another fee. So it seems in my situation, the trust was a gift that keeps on giving....to the attorneys. They say it keeps you out of probate which is expensive, but they did not share the ongoing fees required to make changes, like selling an asset and the final costs when you die. The initial cost of the trust is expensive. But likely dealing with the trust at death will be expensive too.