Wills vs. Trusts: What’s the Difference — and Do You Need Both?
Estate planning conversations often stall the moment wills and trusts enter the room. Clients — especially those who grew up or spent time in the UK — arrive with ideas about these two tools that don’t quite translate to the US system. This week we’re breaking down the key differences, because getting this right matters enormously for your family and your wealth.
A Will: Your Foundation
A will is a legal document that records your wishes for how your assets should be distributed after you die. It’s also the only document that allows you to name guardians for minor children — making it indispensable for any parent. However, a will by itself doesn’t avoid probate. In the US, probate is the court-supervised process of validating your will and distributing your estate — and it can be expensive (typically 3–7% of estate value), slow (often a year or more), and completely public.
A Trust: Your Control Tool
A revocable living trust is a legal structure that holds your assets during your lifetime and transfers them to your beneficiaries upon death — entirely outside of probate. You maintain full control as trustee while you’re alive, and your successor trustee takes over seamlessly when you pass. Assets held in a trust are distributed in weeks, not months or years. It’s private, faster, and typically far less costly than probate.
How a US Trust Actually Works in Practice
Setting up a revocable living trust is a two-step process: creating the trust document, and then funding it — which means re-titling your assets so they are owned by the trust. This is the step many people miss. A trust that isn’t funded is essentially an empty container — your assets will still pass through probate.
What goes into a trust? Typically real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, business interests, and valuable personal property. What doesn’t? Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs pass via beneficiary designations and have their own tax rules. Life insurance also typically passes via beneficiary designations, though the trust can be named as beneficiary if appropriate.
What About UK Clients — Isn’t This Just a Probate Avoidance Tool?
In the UK, trusts are rarely used as a probate-avoidance tool. Instead, trusts in the UK are more commonly associated with tax planning and long-term wealth structures — and they come with significant complexity. Transferring assets into a trust in the UK can trigger an immediate 20% Inheritance Tax charge on the value above the £325,000 nil-rate band, and ongoing charges every 10 years thereafter. A US revocable living trust carries none of these implications: it’s invisible to the IRS during your lifetime, and you’re not triggering any taxable event by funding it.
The Bottom Line
Most clients benefit from having both a trust and a will working together. The trust holds the bulk of your assets — keeping the process private, efficient, and out of court — while the “pour-over” will catches anything left outside the trust. The federal estate tax exemption in 2026 has risen to $15 million per individual ($30 million for married couples). A trust is not just for the wealthy — it’s standard planning for anyone who owns a home, has meaningful assets, or wants to make things easier for the people they leave behind.
Ready to review your US trust arrangement?
Whether you’re starting from scratch, moved from the UK and need to understand how US planning applies to you, or simply haven’t reviewed your current structure in a while — we are here to help. Reach out and we’ll walk you through your options with no obligation.
Weekly Market Review — Week Ending April 25, 2026
Markets delivered a split verdict this week, with technology leading a powerful surge to fresh all-time highs while geopolitical tensions kept investors on edge. The S&P 500 gained +0.6% to finish at fresh all-time highs on Friday, with the Nasdaq adding +1.2% as a blockbuster earnings season drove strong buying in the semiconductor and AI sectors. The Dow slipped -0.4%, weighed down by weakness in select industrial names.
The dominant backdrop remains the US–Iran standoff and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Oil surged above $100 per barrel — its biggest weekly gain in years — adding to inflationary pressure and pushing 10-year Treasury yields up 7 basis points to 4.33%. Despite these headwinds, equity markets largely looked through the noise, supported by an exceptional earnings season. With approximately 25% of the S&P 500 reported, 83% of companies have beaten expectations, with blended earnings growth tracking at +11.2% year-over-year.
Gold remained elevated at approximately $4,871/oz (+11.5% YTD). The divergence between US and European market performance this week is a reminder of how differently geopolitical and macro events play out across markets.
Major Indices This Week
| Index | Week Change | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | +0.6% | +4.2% |
| Nasdaq Composite | +1.2% | +5.8% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | -0.4% | +2.1% |
| 10-Year Treasury Yield | 4.33% | — |
| Gold (spot) | +2.1% | +11.5% |
| WTI Crude Oil | +7.4% | +22.3% |
▲ Top 3 Performers This Week
| Company | Ticker | Change | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel | INTC | +25.0% | Blowout Q1 earnings; AI & data centre revenue +22% YoY; foundry revenue turning the corner |
| Texas Instruments | TXN | +18.0% | Strong Q1 results; broader semiconductor rally on Intel’s coattails |
| Advanced Micro Devices | AMD | +12.5% | Raised FY2026 AI chip revenue guidance; data centre GPU demand accelerating |
▼ Bottom 3 Performers This Week
| Company | Ticker | Change | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| ServiceNow | NOW | -18.0% | Quarterly results disappointed; little room for error at current valuation |
| IBM | IBM | -8.0% | Mixed Q1 earnings; revenue growth expectations despite AI consulting wins not fully met |
| Honeywell | HON | -5.6% | Mixed Q1 results; Q2 guidance below Street expectations |
Past performance is not indicative of future results. This publication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.