Wills and trusts: What’s the difference?

Understanding the difference between a will and a trust is a key step in building an estate plan that helps protect your assets and your loved ones. On this episode of Fidelity’s personal finance podcast Money Unscripted, host Ally Donnelly sits down with Fidelity Vice President of Advanced Planning Pamela Pirone-Benson to explain how wills and trusts work, who may need them, when you may need to go through probate, the difference between a revocable and irrevocable trust, and why estate planning isn’t just for the wealthy. Watch now. View transcript: https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/600_Fidelity_Com_English/documents/video-transcripts/Money-Unscripted_Wills-and-Trusts_Audio.pdf  Revocable and irrevocable trusts: https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/wealth-management/insights/revocable-and-irrevocable-trusts Wills and estate planning for parents: https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/life-events/wills-and-estate-planning-for-parents/ View all episodes here: https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/money-unscripted. New episodes drop bi-weekly on Tuesdays. Have a comment or episode idea? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at moneyunscripted@fidelity.com. Be sure to follow, like, and share Money Unscripted! © 2026 FMR LLC. All rights reserved.