First of all, you may be right. A trust is not for everyone and your particular situation should be evaluated by a qualified attorney experienced with trusts. That being said, there are several reasons a trust may benefit you even if you have no estate tax exposure.
After you die, the court must be petitioned to “probate” your will. Probate is the process by which your will is declared valid by the court, your executor is given authority, and the court makes sure that your wishes as stated in your will are carried out. Probate takes time, can be quite expensive, and is a matter of public record, so you lose control of privacy and your loved ones may need to wait a long time before they could administer your estate (i.e. sell your house, access your bank accounts, etc.). A “living trust” (a trust created during your lifetime) can avoid these issues and make it much easier for those who survive you.
Also, a will has no effect until after you die. A living trust can keep control of your assets out of the courts if you become incapacitated. As an alternative to a power of attorney, or the need for someone to petition the court to appoint a guardian for you, the successor trustee (if you were the trustee of your own revocable trust) can seamlessly step in to manage the assets in your trust at your incapacity.
In addition, there are a variety of other reasons a trust can be extremely beneficial to your estate plan, controlling the specific distribution or administration of your assets for a period of time after your death, for long term care asset protection (Medicaid planning), to hold in trust for a minor, to avoid the distributions in your estate from being challenged, to protect the inheritance of a beneficiary with special needs, or a beneficiary with a substance abuse problem, to name just a few reasons.
