First Home, First Trust: How Homeownership Changes Everything

Buying your first home is one of the biggest financial milestones you'll ever reach. You've saved, budgeted, negotiated, and signed more documents than you thought possible. But there's one more step most new homeowners overlook, and it could be the most important one: protecting that home with an estate plan.

If something happened to you tomorrow, do you know what would happen to your home? Without a plan in place, the answer is probably probate, a court-supervised legal process that can take an average of 20 months, cost your loved ones thousands of dollars, and put your property in the hands of a judge instead of your family.

The moment you own a home is the moment estate planning becomes essential.

Your Home Is Likely Your First Major Asset

For many first-time buyers, a home is the single largest asset they've ever owned. And yet, according to Trust & Will's 2025 Estate Planning Report, only 22% of millennials have a will, and just 11% of adults overall have a trust.

That disconnect makes sense on the surface. When you're young and healthy, estate planning feels like something for later. But ownership changes the equation. The moment your name is on a deed, you have a significant asset that needs a plan behind it. Without one, the legal system decides what happens next.

Why Estate Planning Starts with Homeownership

Before you owned a home, your estate may have been relatively simple: a savings account, maybe a car, some personal belongings. But a home introduces complexity that a basic will may not fully address.

A Last Will and Testament can outline your wishes, but it doesn't avoid probate. That means even with a will in place, your home could still end up in a court process that's expensive, time-consuming, and public. For a closer look at how these two documents compare, our guide on the difference between a trust and a will is a good starting point.

A Revocable Living Trust, on the other hand, allows your home to bypass probate entirely. Your chosen successor trustee can step in immediately, manage or transfer the property, and carry out your wishes without court involvement. It's a level of protection that matches the significance of what you now own.

Trusts Grow with Your Life

One of the best reasons to start a trust early is that it's designed to evolve with you. A trust isn't a one-time document that only applies to your current situation. It's a framework that adapts as your life changes.

When you get married, you can update your trust to reflect shared ownership and new beneficiaries. When you have children, you can add guardianship preferences and set conditions for when they inherit. If you buy a second property, start a business, or move to a new state, your trust can be updated to cover those changes too.

Starting now means you're building on a foundation instead of scrambling to create one later.

Avoiding Expensive Mistakes Early

The cost of not planning can be significant. Probate fees average 3 to 7 percent of an estate's total value, and for a home worth $400,000, that could mean $12,000 to $28,000 in fees alone. Those costs come directly out of the estate, reducing what your loved ones ultimately receive.

Beyond the financial impact, there's also the emotional toll. Probate is stressful, public, and slow. For a young family or partner already dealing with loss, navigating a court process on top of grief is a burden that could be avoided with the right plan in place.

Using Trust & Will typically saves customers up to 70% of the costs compared to using a traditional attorney, making it easier than ever to get started.

How to Start Protecting Your Home Today

You've already done the hard part by buying the home. Now it's time to protect it. Here's how to get started:

1. Recognize the moment. Homeownership is a trigger for estate planning. If you've closed on a home, this is the right time to act.

2. Choose the right plan. Our Trust Plan includes a Revocable Living Trust, a Last Will and Testament, Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, and more. It's a comprehensive estate plan built by attorneys and customized by you.

3. Create a free account. You can begin the process today at trustandwill.com. Our guided platform walks you through every step with clarity and care.

To get the full benefit and value of your trust, your property will need to be retitled in the name of the trust. We offer multiple options to help you transfer the title of your home through our Deed Transfer service.

If you're unsure how a trust fits into your specific financial picture, our Attorney Support service connects you with a vetted estate planning attorney for personalized guidance.

You worked hard to buy your home. Protecting it with a trust is how you make sure that investment pays off for the people who matter most, no matter what happens.

Trust & Will makes estate planning simple so you can create a customized, state-specific plan from the comfort of your own home. Take our free quiz to discover which estate plan best fits your needs today, to secure your family’s future.

Is there a question here we didn’t answer? Browse more topics in our learn center, visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page,  or chat with our member support!

Are you a real estate professional? Learn more about partnering with Trust & Will to offer your clients a seamless way to protect their home from day one.

Trust & Will is an online service providing legal forms and information. We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice.