Let's first compare a revocable living trust and a will.

Both are legal documents that have been around for hundreds of years.

In both, you name someone to handle your affairs after you die. In a will, this person is called an executor or an administrator. In a living trust, this person is called a trustee.

And in both, you name whom you want to receive your assets after you die.

But, unlike a will, a living trust avoids probate when you die, can control all of your assets and prevents the court from controlling your assets at incapacity. (This process is sometimes referred to as a "living probate.")