What’s With a Trust as Opposed to a Will?

Now that I’m married, its time to act kinda responsibly. So its time to get new living wills, powers of attorney, etc.

Most of these forms are available online. As to the trust… I can’t find copies online, but I have an old trust form I paid for some years back – hard copy only. Its now outdated… it comes from the time before I met the Ex-GF. I don’t feel like paying for it to be updated, and besides, I’d like to have a soft copy so I could make more changes as my life changes further without having to go to an attorney every time. So I’m starting to type up the trust form myself.

Its boring but educational. And confusing. People always say you need a trust rather than a will to avoid probate. But if I understand things correctly, you still need a will. And the will turns everything over to the trust. And then the trust turns everything over to the beneficiary. Is this right? What kind of convoluted nonsense is this?

Anyone care to explain what is going on in comments. I bet I’m not the only one confused.