Simple Trust - A married couple with a taxable estate worth less than $3,500,000 needs only a simple trust. Younger couples (under age 55) who are close to $3.5 million should consider that, down the road, they may exceed this important threshold. A simple trust contains only one trust and can only safeguard one of the available $3.5 million tax shelters.
Complex Trust - A married couple with a taxable estate worth more than $3,500,000 needs a complex trust. A complex trust contains two trusts--one for each of the $3.5 million tax shelters--and safeguards both valuable tax shelters. This gives you a potential of $7,000,000 in protection. With a simple trust, a married couple loses one of their tax shelters. For couples whose assets are under $3,500,000 this is not a problem.