# Living trust / revocable trust

Canonical URL: https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/living-trust-revocable-trust
Markdown twin: https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/living-trust-revocable-trust/llms.txt
Category: Estate & Legacy Planning (https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/categories/estate-legacy-planning)
Also known as: Revocable trust, Inter vivos trust
Last updated: 2026-04-18

## Definition

A revocable living trust is a legal entity created during your lifetime to hold ownership of your assets, allowing them to bypass probate and pass directly to named beneficiaries while remaining fully editable while you're alive. The grantor typically serves as initial trustee and names a successor trustee to take over at incapacity or death.

## Key takeaways

- A revocable trust is fully editable while the grantor has capacity.
- Assets only pass through the trust if they have actually been retitled into it (“funded”).
- Revocable trusts avoid probate but do not provide asset protection or estate-tax savings on their own.
- An irrevocable trust is a separate vehicle that gives up control in exchange for asset protection or tax benefits.

## How Olomon thinks about this

_The following section is Olomon's first-party perspective, informed by our work building a financial system of record. It is intentionally separated from the neutral definitional content above._

The most common reason a revocable trust fails is lack of funding — the trust exists, but the house, brokerage account, or LLC interest was never retitled into it. Olomon makes ownership visible at the asset level, so you (and your attorney) can see at a glance whether each significant asset has actually been moved into the trust.

## In-depth definition

A revocable living trust is the workhorse of modern [estate planning](https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/estate-plan) for households with real estate, multiple accounts, or anything they want kept out of public [probate](https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/probate). It's created during life, owns assets in its own name, and can be amended or revoked at any time. At death, the [successor trustee](https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/successor-trustee) distributes the trust's assets according to the trust's terms — generally without court involvement.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does a revocable trust protect assets from creditors?

No. Because the grantor retains control, the assets remain reachable by the grantor's creditors during life and by estate creditors at death. Asset-protection planning typically requires irrevocable structures.

### Do I still need a will if I have a living trust?

Yes — typically a “pour-over” will that catches assets not titled in the trust at death and routes them into it.

## Sources

1. [What is a revocable living trust? — CFPB](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-a-revocable-living-trust-en-1471/) — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Cited for: Consumer-facing definition.
2. [Getting Your Affairs in Order](https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/advance-care-planning/getting-your-affairs-order-checklist-documents-prepare-now) — National Institute on Aging (NIH). Cited for: Trust placement in estate documents checklist.

## Related terms

- [Grantor](https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/grantor)
- [Successor trustee](https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/successor-trustee)
- [Estate plan](https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/estate-plan)
- [Probate](https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/probate)

## Cite this page

Olomon Editorial Team. (2026). Living trust / revocable trust. Olomon Financial Glossary. https://olomon.com/financial-glossary/living-trust-revocable-trust

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