The cost of setting up a trust generally runs $1,000 to $5,000 in attorney drafting fees for a standard revocable living trust, with complex irrevocable trusts landing between $3,000 and $6,000 or higher. That’s just the drafting bill. The full cost also includes funding fees to move assets into the trust, ongoing trustee and tax-return expenses, and occasional legal updates over the years the trust exists. Where you fall in the range depends on the type of trust, how complicated your estate is, your location, and whether you use an attorney or an online service.
What Attorneys Charge to Draft the Trust
Most estate planning attorneys quote a flat fee for a standard package that bundles a revocable living trust with a pour-over will, financial power of attorney, and healthcare directive. Those packages typically run $1,000 to $4,000. Whether you’re single or a married couple needing mirror trusts affects the number, as does the attorney’s experience.
Location matters more than most people expect. An attorney in a mid-sized Midwestern city might charge $1,500 for the same package that runs $3,500 or more in New York or San Francisco. The legal work is similar; overhead and demand in high-cost metros push fees up.
Some attorneys bill hourly rather than flat-fee, especially for anything unusual. Experienced estate planning attorneys generally charge $200 to $400 an hour, and specialists in major cities go higher. Hourly billing introduces uncertainty about the final bill, so if your estate has any complications, ask for a written estimate before the work starts.
How the Trust Type Changes the Price
The type of trust you need has the single biggest effect on what you’ll pay.
A revocable living trust is the most common and least expensive option. You keep control of the assets during your lifetime, can amend or revoke the trust at any time, and it avoids probate at death. Drafting fits inside the $1,000 to $3,000 flat-fee range.
An irrevocable trust costs more because you’re permanently giving up control of the assets, which triggers tax-planning work the attorney has to handle carefully. Irrevocable trusts used for asset protection or estate-tax planning typically cost $3,000 to $6,000 to draft, and especially complex arrangements go higher. The jump isn’t about page count. Irrevocable trusts require the attorney to run tax projections, coordinate with your broader estate plan, and draft provisions that can’t easily be changed later.
A special needs trust requires specialized drafting so the beneficiary keeps eligibility for means-tested programs like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. Getting the language wrong can disqualify the beneficiary from benefits worth far more than the trust itself. Drafting costs sit at the higher end of the irrevocable trust range or above.
Dynasty and charitable trusts involve multi-generational tax planning or coordination with charitable giving. They require sophisticated legal and tax analysis and are consistently the most expensive to create.
Funding the Trust
A signed trust document sitting in a drawer does nothing. The trust only works if you transfer ownership of your assets into it, a process called funding. Funding has its own costs, separate from drafting, and skipping it is the most common mistake people make. An unfunded trust won’t keep your assets out of probate.
Real estate is the most expensive asset to transfer because each property needs a new deed. You’ll pay the attorney or paralegal for preparing the deed, plus government recording fees that vary by county. Most transfers into a revocable living trust are exempt from state transfer taxes, but confirm that with your attorney before assuming. If you own property in multiple states, multiply the deed costs.
Transferring business interests like an LLC membership or partnership share involves reviewing the operating agreement, drafting an assignment, and potentially amending entity records. Fees depend on how complicated the operating agreement is and whether other members need to consent.
Bank and brokerage accounts are usually the simplest. Most financial institutions have their own forms and handle retitling at no charge, though some charge modest processing fees. Unique assets like art, collectibles, or privately held stock may need professional appraisals to establish fair market value, adding several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on the asset.
Total funding cost depends on how many assets you’re transferring and what they are, not on how complex the trust document is. Someone with a simple trust but five bank accounts, two properties, and an LLC will spend more on funding than someone with a complex trust and a single brokerage account.
Online and DIY Alternatives
For straightforward estates, online legal services offer templated trust documents at a fraction of the attorney cost. These platforms typically charge $200 to $650 for a basic revocable living trust, with premium tiers running higher. The savings are real, and so are the limits.
Online services work best for someone with a simple financial picture: no blended family complications, no special needs beneficiaries, no business interests, and no estate large enough to trigger federal estate tax. The fee covers document generation, not personalized legal advice. You’re also on your own for funding, which is where many DIY trusts fail.
A completely free template downloaded from the internet is riskier. These are often outdated or too generic to comply with your state’s rules. Having an attorney review a DIY document typically costs a few hundred dollars, and that review may turn up problems that cost more to fix than starting over would have. For any estate involving an irrevocable trust, special needs planning, or significant tax considerations, DIY savings usually get eaten by the cost of fixing errors later.
Ongoing Costs After Setup
The bill doesn’t end once the documents are signed and assets are transferred. Several recurring costs continue for the life of the trust.
Trustee Compensation
If you serve as your own trustee for a revocable living trust during your lifetime, there’s no trustee fee. The cost starts when a successor trustee takes over, either after your death or if you become incapacitated. Professional trustees like bank trust departments typically charge an annual fee of 1% to 2% of trust assets. For a trust holding $1 million, that’s $10,000 to $20,000 a year.
Family members serving as trustee are entitled to reasonable compensation too, though they often charge less. A common benchmark is roughly a quarter of what a professional would charge, often around 0.25% of assets. Some family trustees prefer an hourly arrangement. The trust document can set the compensation terms upfront, which avoids awkward negotiations later.
Tax Return Preparation
A trust that generates gross income of $600 or more in a tax year has to file IRS Form 1041. During the grantor’s lifetime, a revocable living trust is typically a grantor trust that reports all income on the grantor’s personal return, so no separate 1041 is needed. After the grantor’s death, and for irrevocable trusts generally, a separate filing is required.
CPA fees for preparing Form 1041 vary widely with the complexity of the trust’s income and distributions. Simple returns start around $1,500, and trusts with multiple beneficiaries, varied investment income, or multi-state obligations cost more. Each Schedule K-1 issued to a beneficiary adds to the preparation time. Tax preparation fees are themselves deductible on the trust’s return.
Amendments and Restatements
Life changes. Beneficiaries die or are born, laws shift, and your financial situation evolves. A revocable trust can be amended at any time during your lifetime. Minor amendments, like changing a successor trustee or updating a beneficiary’s share, are usually billed at the attorney’s hourly rate or a modest flat fee. A full restatement, which rewrites the entire trust while keeping it as the same legal entity, can cost as much as drafting a new trust from scratch. Budget for at least one or two amendments over the trust’s lifetime.
How Trust Costs Compare to Probate
The cost of setting up and maintaining a trust makes more sense against what it replaces. Probate, the court-supervised process for distributing assets after death, typically costs 3% to 8% of the estate’s gross value. For a $500,000 estate, that’s $15,000 to $40,000 in attorney fees, executor fees, court costs, and appraisal charges. Probate also takes months to over a year, beneficiaries may have limited access to assets during that time, and the proceeding is public record.
A properly funded revocable living trust bypasses probate entirely for the assets it holds. The math often favors the trust, especially for larger estates or those with real property in multiple states, since each state where you own real estate can require its own probate. For very small or simple estates, streamlined probate procedures available in most states may cost less than establishing a trust. The break-even depends on your estate size, asset types, and how much you value keeping your affairs private.