What is the significance of a living trust?

The significance of a living trust lies primarily in its ability to allow assets to bypass probate after the individual's death. This is a crucial advantage for those looking to streamline the estate administration process. When a living trust is established, the assets are transferred into the trust while the individual is still alive, enabling a more efficient transfer to beneficiaries upon death. Since assets held in a living trust are not subject to probate, this can lead to faster access to those assets for the beneficiaries and can also maintain privacy, as trusts are generally not public records like wills.

The other options do not capture the primary purpose and advantage of a living trust. While it is true that a living trust can only be created during a person's lifetime, this aspect alone does not highlight its significance. Describing it as a temporary arrangement for asset distribution or emphasizing control of investments by family members does not reflect the primary benefit of avoiding probate, which is central to the utility of a living trust in estate planning.