I recently approached an (recommended) attorney to start a living trust. It is taking for ever for some reason. Don’t go in blindly, and ask lot’s of questions (keeping an eye on the stop watch). Does your attorney become a trustee? Can you trust him/her? What happens if he retires/dies? It may pass to someone who you don’t know. I decided to go the institutional route for a trustee, and adding a trusted family member as a trustee for checks and balances! If you are non-US domiciled ie born elsewhere be wary of the consequences in your country of domicile. In many places domicile is very hard to shake off, and many countries don’t recognize trusts. Could cause problems down the road. Local attorneys won’t have the expertise to advise on this.