Quite often, I meet with clients who say all they need is a simple will. Then we talk more about family, goals, and assets.
Sometimes they are correct and all their goals can be accomplished by using a will as the centerpiece of their estate plan. However, more often than not, they decide they would prefer to plan using a living trust, rather than a simple will.
A living trust usually costs more to set up than a will for a number of reasons. Living trusts have a lot more to them, as they are set up to manage assets both during life and after death, whereas wills only come into effect after death. A trustee of a trust is named to manage the trust assets both during incapacity of the trustmaker and after death.
After discovering all the benefits that can be drafted into a living trust, many choose to pay a little more now during life to get all the benefits of a living trust, and then also save more after death for their beneficiaries.