Function

• A living trust is an estate planning tool that is a substitute for a will. The settlor creates the living trust while alive by placing money, personal property and real property into the trust for beneficiaries -- the people who would receive the property under a will.
  
  

Benefits

• A living trust in Virginia will avoid the costs of probating a will and, thus, save some of the money associated with distributing assets after the death of the settlor. Probate is the term used for the act of proving the authenticity and genuineness of a will and administering it.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Even though a living trust does not have probate costs associated with it, one cannot avoid estate taxes by choosing a living trust in lieu of a will. Further, while writing a will has some costs associated with it, such as attorney fees, a living trust also has maintenance fees that exist throughout the life of the trust, such as fees to pay the trustee.