In New York, California and Florida, the probate statutes make it expensive and cumbersome to probate estates. As a result, if you talk with a lawyer in those states, they will advise you to set up a living trust. In Minnesota, the probate statute is not particularly onerous; therefore, preparing a living trust is just an option. Some people find the idea of not owning their assets but remaining as trustee for themselves as burdensome. If the idea of being trustee for yourself does not bother you, then a living trust may be a good option. A living trust does increase your disability protection because you have named a person to manage your assets in the event of incapacitation. This is a good way to keep the information about your assets private (probate is a public process). It also a good way to deal with real property owned in more than one state. Even if every state has a reasonable probate statute, multiple probates can be expensive and cumbersome. The disadvantage of using POD/TOD/TODD and beneficiary designations to avoid probate is that it is not as flexible as a will or trust. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance and TODDs do allow at least one contingency to be handled (If a child dies before you, who gets what would have been that child’s share?). However, most POD or TOD designations do not allow that. Furthermore, if you need to have trusts established for a minor or disabled person, or want to control where an asset goes when the first beneficiary dies, POD /TOD/TODD alone will not get the job done. You can establish a trust, either separately or in a will or living trust, and then use a POD/TOD/TODD designation to get the asset to the trust.