MARK KOHLERMain Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, LLC · Owner at Main Street Professionals, LLC

What Is a Living Trust and Why Do You Need One?

28 Sept 2025 · 1 min

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In this brief explanation, Mark Kohler defines a living trust as the central document of an estate plan that outlines what happens to a person’s assets after death. He emphasizes that a revocable living trust is a private, self‑executed instrument that does not need to be filed with federal, state, or county authorities. The trust is notarized, witnessed, and can appoint key roles such as trustees, guardians for children, and executors. Because it is revocable, the grantor can modify or edit the trust over many years. Kohler likens the living trust to a “will on steroids,” highlighting its enhanced flexibility and privacy compared with a traditional will.

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What is a living trust? The living trust is a document you sign and it's in a binder with a bunch of other pieces and parts, but it's the backbone of what's called an estate plan, like what's going to happen to you and your assets when you die. And so this living trust does not get filed with the feds, it doesn't get filed with the state. You don't have to record it at the county. It's very private, it's very internal. You're going to appoint some key people like trustees, guardians of children, executors. That's all part of the plan. But the living trust is just self executed with notaries and some witnesses, but a document that you're going to have for many, many years to come. And you can modify it and I guess edit it because it's a revocable living trust. So that's basically what it is. It's just like a will on steroids.