Should a $1.5M Couple in Their 60s Set Up a Trust?
A couple in their 60s with $1.5 million in assets weighs whether a trust is worth it despite already having wills.
A couple in their 60s sitting on $1.5 million in assets is asking a question many Americans with existing wills eventually confront: is a revocable living trust worth the added effort and cost, especially when the primary goal is keeping peace among heirs? The pair already has wills in place but wants to know whether a trust offers enough extra protection to justify the transition.
At the heart of their concern is probate — the court-supervised legal process through which a deceased person's estate is distributed. Probate can be slow, sometimes dragging on for months or even years, and court records are generally public, meaning asset values and beneficiary details become accessible to anyone who looks. Costs can also erode the estate, with attorney fees and court expenses sometimes running into the thousands depending on the state.
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A revocable living trust sidesteps probate entirely by transferring ownership of assets into the trust during the grantor's lifetime. Upon death, a named successor trustee distributes those assets directly to beneficiaries without court involvement — faster, privately, and often more cheaply. For a couple with $1.5 million and multiple heirs, that structure can also reduce the friction points that lead to family disputes, since the terms are clear and administration is streamlined.
Having a will does not make a trust redundant. Wills still play a role — covering assets that were never transferred into the trust and naming guardians for minor children, for example — but they do not eliminate the probate exposure that the couple is worried about. Estate planning attorneys generally recommend pairing both documents as part of a comprehensive plan, particularly for high-net-worth households anticipating complex distributions.
For couples in their 60s beginning to think seriously about legacy planning, the combination of asset size and heir dynamics makes a trust a conversation worth having with a qualified estate attorney sooner rather than later. Continue reading at MarketWatch.com
