What are the pros and cons of testamentary trusts in estate planning?

Testamentary trusts often come up in estate planning as a sophisticated-sounding tool, and this piece starts where the decision should start: by asking what you actually want the trust to accomplish before assuming you need one. The discussion weighs what these trusts can do well, such as providing for a beneficiary who needs structure, against the costs, complexity, and changing tax treatment that can make them less compelling than they first appear. In many cases a simpler arrangement reaches the same goal with less friction. It is most useful for anyone drafting or updating a will who has heard trusts described as a clever strategy and wants to understand when they genuinely earn their keep versus when a more straightforward path serves the family better. The thread throughout is to define the purpose first, then choose the tool.