The Comparison at a Glance
| Dimension |
Will |
Revocable Trust |
| Probate at death |
Required — 6 to 18 months |
None for funded assets |
| Incapacity coverage |
None — will has no effect until death |
Successor trustee takes over immediately |
| Upfront cost |
$500–$1,500 |
$3,500–$6,000 |
| At-death cost |
$15,000–$50,000+ (commissions + attorney fees) |
$0–$3,000 (trust administration) |
| Distribution control |
Outright — no timing or conditions |
Any terms the grantor specifies |
| Privacy |
Public record in probate court |
Entirely private |
| Tax basis at death |
Full step-up under IRC § 1014 |
Full step-up under IRC § 1014 |
Dimension 1 — Probate
A will requires probate. Under Georgia law, any property titled in your individual name at death must pass through the probate court in the county where you lived. For a rental property investor, every property held in personal name — not in a trust, not in an LLC owned by a trust — is a probate asset.
The executor opens a case, files an inventory, publishes notice to creditors, waits out the creditor claim period, and files a final accounting before the court authorizes distribution. For an uncontested estate, that process takes 6 to 18 months. For a rental property estate with multiple properties and any complexity in the asset structure, it takes longer.
During that period, your family cannot sell, refinance, or make major management decisions about the properties without court permission. Rental income flows in but sits in an estate account your heirs cannot access.
The executor is entitled to compensation under O.C.G.A. § 53-6-60 — 2.5% of all money received into the estate plus 2.5% of all money paid out. On a $500,000 estate with active rental cash flow, that alone runs $25,000. Attorney fees add $3,000–$8,000 on top.
A revocable trust bypasses all of it. When you die, the successor trustee named in the trust steps in immediately. There is no court, no creditor publication period, and rental income continues without interruption. For the full cost breakdown, see How Much Does It Cost When Georgia Rental Properties Go Through Probate.
Dimension 2 — Incapacity
A will takes effect at death. It has no legal effect while you are alive.
If you become incapacitated, someone must petition the probate court for a conservatorship to manage your rental properties — a process that takes months, requires court hearings, requires posting a bond, and requires ongoing annual court reporting. Until the conservatorship is established, your rental properties are in legal limbo. No one has clear authority to collect rent, approve repairs, or sign new leases.
A revocable trust addresses incapacity directly. The trust document includes a successor trustee provision and a disability trigger — typically two-physician certification that you are unable to manage your affairs. When that trigger is met, the successor trustee steps in within days, with full legal authority to manage the trust’s assets. No court. No conservatorship. No bond.
This dimension alone justifies the trust for most investors in their 50s and 60s. The probability of incapacity before death is higher than most people acknowledge, and the operational consequences of an unplanned incapacity for a rental portfolio are immediate and expensive.
Dimension 3 — Cost
A will is cheaper to create: $500–$1,500 in attorney fees, compared to $3,500–$6,000 for a revocable trust. That comparison covers creation cost only.
The full cost comparison requires adding what the estate pays at death. Under a will, your estate pays executor commissions (effectively 5% of all cash), attorney fees ($3,000–$8,000), and court costs. Your heirs wait 6 to 18 months during which rental income sits locked in an estate account.
A trust has zero at-death probate costs. For most rental property investors with two or more properties, the trust saves $15,000–$50,000 over its lifetime despite the higher upfront cost. For the detailed breakdown, see How Much Does Estate Planning Cost for a Real Estate Investor in Georgia.
Dimension 4 — Distribution Control
A will distributes your estate according to your stated terms — but every distribution goes out at once, immediately, to whoever you named. A 25-year-old who inherits a $600,000 rental property through a will receives it outright the day probate closes. There are no conditions and no staging.
If a beneficiary is a minor child, the will cannot deliver the property directly — the law requires a court-supervised conservatorship until the child turns 18, after which they receive the asset outright with no restrictions. The will gives the investor no control over that outcome.
A revocable trust can specify any distribution structure: distribute at 25, distribute income until 30, hold in trust until the beneficiary demonstrates financial management ability. For a rental portfolio with significant value, distribution control is often as important as the probate bypass. For more on the co-ownership risk when multiple heirs inherit, see Problems With Naming Your Children as Direct Beneficiaries of Rental Properties.
Dimension 5 — Privacy
When a will is filed with the Georgia probate court, it becomes a public record. Anyone can request a copy. The inventory of assets filed during probate — including your rental property addresses and values — is also public.
A revocable trust is entirely private. The trust document is never filed in any court. Your beneficiaries, the distribution terms, and the asset list remain known only to the parties involved. Privacy matters for practical reasons: heirs who become suddenly visible as owners of multiple rental properties can attract unwanted attention, including targeted solicitations and creditor claims.
Dimension 6 — Tax Basis
This is the one dimension where a will and a revocable trust produce the same outcome. Both structures deliver a full stepped-up basis to your heirs under IRC § 1014. When your heirs inherit a rental property — whether through probate or through a trust — their cost basis resets to the property’s fair market value on the date of your death.
That step-up eliminates all capital gains tax on appreciation that occurred during your lifetime and eliminates depreciation recapture on prior years of deductions. A revocable trust qualifies because trust assets are included in the grantor’s gross estate under IRC § 2038. IRS Rev. Rul. 2023-2, which denied stepped-up basis for certain grantor trust arrangements, applies only to irrevocable grantor trusts not included in the gross estate — it does not affect standard revocable living trusts.
Which Structure Is Right for a Georgia Rental Portfolio?
For an investor with one property and no complex family situation, a will may be sufficient — with the understanding that probate will run at death and incapacity is not covered.
For an investor with two or more rental properties, a multi-property LLC structure, minor children, adult children who would inherit as co-owners, or any concern about incapacity management: the revocable trust addresses every one of those situations directly. The will addresses none of them.
The upfront cost difference ($2,000–$4,500 more for the trust) is recovered the first time the trust avoids a conservatorship proceeding. It is recovered many times over at death when probate costs are eliminated. For the complete structure a Georgia rental property investor needs, see Estate Planning for Real Estate Investors.
