A life trust is a legal document that should be prepared by an attorney. This document transfers all the property the person creating the trust indicates into a trust that is then managed by a trustee. The trustee can be a named person or the person setting up the trust. This type of trust is revocable and the named beneficiaries can be changed should the creator of the trust desire to do so. Living trusts are created to avoid probate costs and also to allow for privacy in distributing assets. Many life trusts are set up for charitable organizations so that immediately upon the trust creator's death. There are different types of living trusts and an attorney or estate planner should be consulted to determine the type of life trust that is most beneficial.