Trusts are often used in estate planning to take advantage of favorable tax treatment to place conditions on the use or distribution of assets or to allow the heirs to take possession of assets without a probate proceeding the trustee holds the assets in a fiduciary capacity. Wills and trusts are both important estate planning tools but they differ in important ways first a trust is activated when the grantor signs it a will does not go into effect until the. Wills and trusts are both legal documents that your estate planning attorney will use to help you and your family achieve your estate planning goals often they are used together for example a trust may be drafted within a will to provide for minor children and a will is often used to make sure that any assets not transferred to a living trust during your lifetime are transferred to your trust upon death. Current wills trusts and estate planning basics share tweet pin by staff writer wednesday april 29 2020 death is something we all have in common it is a fact of life although its not something many of us want to think about only 21 percent of americans have discussed their last wishes with their loved ones and just one in three adults have arranged advanced directive documents