What a trust does, without the jargon

A trust is a set of instructions attached to assets, with someone appointed to follow them. That is the whole concept; the complexity lives in the variations.

The functions people usually want are: avoiding probate, which is public and can be slow; controlling timing, so a beneficiary receives assets on a schedule rather than at once; and providing for someone who should not manage assets directly.

A revocable trust can be changed during life and generally does not alter income taxation. Irrevocable structures trade away control in exchange for other effects. They are different instruments for different problems.

Trusts have real costs — drafting, administration, and the discipline of actually retitling assets into them. An unfunded trust achieves nothing. Whether one is warranted is a legal question for an attorney who knows your state and your circumstances.