The main difference between a trust and a will is that the will's instructions must be approved by a court before being carried out. Both a trust and a will are just documents that include, often identical, inheritance instructions regarding your property after you die. But, if you only have a will, financial institutions and governments demand proof of the court's approval of any transfer from a deceased person to a will beneficiary. Meanwhile, if you have a trust, these same financial institutions and governments will allow a transfer from the deceased to a trust beneficiary after reviewing just the death certificate, your identification, and a copy of the trust document.
Another important difference between a trust and a will is that when you create a trust, you must also re-title (re-name) your property from your name individually to your trust's name. However, when you have only created a will, you could leave your property in your name individually.
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