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Because everything is in one Trust, all assets would be vulnerable to judgements. Another possible disadvantage could be a lack of flexibility after one spouse's death. In most cases, spouses still have control over individual interests in a Joint Trust.

A Joint Trust is a single Trust document that covers both spouses and offers provisions for what happens upon the death of each. These specific types of Trusts may be particularly useful for married couples who live in a Community Property state.

A 'trust split' is a process of dividing the assets of a trust (generally a family discretionary trust) into a number of smaller sub-trusts to enable one group of beneficiaries to control certain trust assets and another group of beneficiaries to control other assets.

With a joint trust, two individuals, usually spouses, open a single trust and each serves as a co-trustee. When one spouse dies, the surviving spouse becomes the sole trustee and manages the trust. After the second spouse dies, a joint trust becomes irrevocable since it can't be amended.

There isn't a standard way of distributing trust assets to beneficiaries, but rather the grantor, the person who creates the trust (also known as the settlor or trustor), determines how the trust assets should be disbursed.

In general, most experts agree that Separate Trusts can provide more asset protection. Joint Trust: Marital assets are all together in a single trust. This means there's less asset protection, because if there's ever a judgment over one of the spouses, all of the assets could end up being at risk.