Answer:

When you say “Trust” I’m going to assume that you mean Living/Family/Intervivos if any of those words are included in the description of your trust then:

On the face, it does NOT matter, if you want your children to share equally in the value of the home and you are not or do not intend to get married, then whether you have a trust or not, whether you have a will or not, the probate process would normally do as you are hoping and that is to share evenly the house value between all your children.

Also the Living trust will NOT protect the house from lawsuits, it will NOT preserve the house value if you are in need of long term care, it will NOT reduce any estate taxes.

A Living trust does 4 things, 4 things only, and 4 things well.

1. It provides for “specific distribution” (read: assets go where you want them to go). If for instance you had a non standard intent for your personal assets, maybe one of your children was handicapped and would need lifetime support, you could designate in your trust that certain assets were for them only, and the trustee would be obligated to comply. If you did that in your Will, the Probate court MIGHT agree, but the operative word there is MIGHT.

2. It provides in case you become incompetent, you will have already named someone to manage your personal affairs and the courts don’t get involved. Without a Trust, a court hearing is held, and the courts will appoint someone to manage your affairs, it MIGHT even be the same person you would have chosen, but the operative word there is MIGHT.

3. It avoids Probate. The Court system that is in charge of distributing assets at your demise. Probate is public, probate can be costly, possibly having an attorney that charges a handsome fee to represent the estate in the probate court. The Probate Court MIGHT make the same decisions that you would have, but the operative word there is MIGHT.

4. It “Maximizes the Prepaid Tax Credit for Married Couples”. If you were married and your total personal wealth was high enough to cause an estate tax even, the Trust can be set up to allow the assets to be split between the spouses (spice?) and possibly go under the Estate Tax Threshold.

If you have lost any sleep over all those free and clear rentals with tenants that just might choose to sue you and you losing some or all, then you need to look further than a living trust. And along the way, you might just save a whole lot in taxes.