One of the big estate planning questions is “revocable trust or a simple will?”

It’s not a straightforward question. The trust is that as with anything legal, it’s largely a facts-and-circumstances type of question.

I get asked this question all the time and the truth is that it’s hard to say, with certainty, that a revocable living trust is a “must-have” for every family.

It’s a great estate planning tool, don’t get me wrong here. It’s a way to avoid probate in many cases. Using a revocable living trust, you can easily retain more control over your assets and similarly, your heirs can retain control over much of your estate.

Financial planners like to pitch life insurance policies. While I really can’t tell you whether or not you should buy life insurance, I can talk about some estate planning strategies involving life insurance. Namely, the irrevocable life insurance trust, or ILIT, is a tool used by estate planning lawyers when planning around life insurance proceeds.

Indeed, financial planners will tell you that you absolutely must have a life insurance policy as part of a comprehensive estate plan. But the whole notion of what constitutes a “comprehensive estate plan” varies from person to person.