A trust is a container for the things you own, with a set of instructions attached. That’s it.
You put assets in (your home, your savings, your investments), and you write the rules: who manages them, who they’re for, and what happens if you’re not around. You don’t hand anything over. You still control it all. You’ve just made a plan that holds up when you can’t be there to explain it.
Three roles, and at the start they’re usually all you:
- You set it up.
- You run it.
- You benefit from it, along with your spouse, your kids, whoever you name.
Putting things in is called “funding” it, usually just changing the name on a title from you to your trust. Same house, same account. Different name on the paperwork.
There are two kinds, and the only real difference is control. A revocable trust you can change or cancel anytime. It’s the everyday starting point. An irrevocable trust you mostly can’t change, and in exchange it gives you far stronger protection and tax advantages. Most people start with the first and add the second later, if it ever makes sense for them.