IANAL First..there are many kinds of trusts...life insurance trusts, bypass trusts, crummey trusts, etc. There's a lot of possible reasons to do it/them; howe

IANAL First..there are many kinds of trusts...life insurance trusts, bypass trusts, crummey trusts, etc. There's a lot of possible reasons to do it/them; however, the main ones that interested me were: * avoiding probate * tax implications (by utilizing a trust properly, one can reduce estate taxes...for example...using a life insurance trust...you don't "own" the life insurance...so when you die, it's not considered part of your taxable estate. * peace of mind around having things explicitly layed out. If my wife and I die, we know who takes care of the kid next and how the trust works (as far as education, giving to charity, etc.) Hope this helps