To make a trust online, you pick the trust type the platform offers (almost always a revocable living trust), enter your trustees, beneficiaries, and assets into a guided form builder, print the generated document and sign it in front of a notary (and witnesses if your state requires them), then retitle your property into the trust’s name. Online platforms typically charge between $100 and $600 for the document, well below what an attorney charges to draft one from scratch. The process fits straightforward estates. The catch is that the signed document does nothing on its own; the trust only works once you actually move assets into it.
Pick the Right Trust Type Before You Start
Most online platforms create revocable living trusts, and for good reason: this is the structure that fits the widest range of users. A revocable trust lets you keep full control of your assets during your lifetime. You can add or remove property, change beneficiaries, or dissolve the trust entirely. You remain the owner for tax purposes and continue using your Social Security number for accounts held in the trust.
An irrevocable trust is a different animal. It permanently transfers ownership of your assets out of your personal estate. Once property goes in, you generally cannot take it back or change the terms without the beneficiaries’ consent. That rigidity is the point: it can reduce estate taxes and shield assets from creditors. The trade-off is a permanent loss of control.
One boundary worth knowing. Assets in a revocable trust still count as yours for Medicaid long-term care eligibility. Moving assets into an irrevocable trust can help, but Medicaid applies a five-year look-back, so anything transferred within five years of applying can still disqualify you. If Medicaid planning is part of your reason for creating a trust, an online platform’s default revocable trust will not get you there.
Before entering any information, confirm which type the platform is building. Most default to revocable.
What to Gather Before Opening the Form
Having everything organized before you start saves time and prevents the kind of small errors that cause problems later. You will need:
- Your trustee and successor trustee. You will likely name yourself as the initial trustee. The successor is the person who takes over if you die or become incapacitated. Pick someone you trust with financial decisions, and name at least one backup.
- Beneficiary details. Full legal names for everyone who will inherit. Decide whether to name contingent beneficiaries who inherit if a primary beneficiary dies before you. Social Security numbers are helpful to have on file; most platforms do not require them at creation, but your trustee will need them later to issue Schedule K-1 forms when distributing trust income.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1041 and Schedules A, B, G, J, and K-1
- An asset inventory. Account numbers for bank and investment accounts, legal descriptions from property deeds, VINs for vehicles, and identifying details for valuable personal property. Specificity now prevents confusion during future distributions.
- Distribution instructions. Decide when and how beneficiaries receive their share: at a set age like 25 or 30, at milestones such as completing a degree, or all at once. These instructions become part of the trust document, so think them through before you type.
Working Through the Platform’s Forms
Online trust platforms walk you through a series of screens that convert your decisions into legal language. You typically start by selecting the trust type, then move through modules covering family structure, trustee appointments, beneficiary designations, and asset details.
Enter names exactly as they appear on government-issued ID. A mismatch between the trust document and a beneficiary’s legal name can create delays or disputes during distribution. Copy account numbers and property descriptions from the source documents rather than typing from memory.
Most platforms generate the document under the law of your state. A majority of states have adopted some version of the Uniform Trust Code, which standardizes rules on creation, trustee duties, and beneficiary rights. The platform should ask for your state of residence and tailor the document accordingly. If it does not, that is a red flag. If you own property in multiple states, have a blended family, or want special-needs provisions for a disabled beneficiary, have an attorney review the generated document before you sign.
Before the platform produces the final file, it will show a summary of everything you entered. Review every field, especially names, addresses, and account numbers. Once you approve, the platform compiles the document into a PDF ready for signing.
Printing, Signing, and Notarizing
The file the platform produces is a draft. It becomes legally binding only after you print it and sign it with the right formalities. Sign in the presence of a notary public, who verifies your identity and watches you sign. Some states also require two disinterested witnesses, meaning people who are not named as beneficiaries or trustees. Notary fees generally run $5 to $15 per signature.
All signatures, yours, the witnesses’, and the notary’s, should happen in the same sitting. The notary applies an official seal and records the transaction. If signatures are spread across different sessions, a court could later question whether the document was altered in between.
Keep the signed original in a fireproof safe or a safe deposit box, and give copies to your successor trustee. If a court finds the signing formalities were not followed, the trust can be declared invalid, and your assets will pass under your state’s default inheritance laws instead of your instructions.
Remote Online Notarization
As of early 2025, roughly 45 states have permanent laws allowing remote online notarization. You appear before the notary by live video call. The notary verifies your identity through knowledge-based questions or credential analysis, watches you sign on camera, and applies an electronic seal. An audio-video recording of the session is kept on file.
Remote notarization helps if you have mobility limitations or live far from a notary’s office. Not every state permits it for every document type, and some impose specific technology requirements, so check your state’s rules before relying on it for your trust.
Funding the Trust
A signed trust document with nothing in it does nothing. Funding means transferring ownership of your property from your personal name into the trust’s name. Until you do this, those assets will still pass through probate, which is exactly what the trust was supposed to prevent.
Real Estate
Transferring real property requires preparing a new deed, usually a quitclaim or warranty deed, that names the trust as the new owner. Record the deed with your county recorder’s office. Recording fees vary by county but generally start around $10 for the first page plus a per-page fee for additional pages, with typical deed recordings running $20 to $100.
Bank and Investment Accounts
Contact each bank or brokerage to retitle accounts in the trust’s name. You will fill out new signature cards and may need to provide a certification of trust, which is a summary document confirming the trust exists and identifying the trustee’s authority without revealing private terms like who inherits what. Call ahead to ask what paperwork the institution needs.
Life Insurance
For life insurance, submit a change-of-beneficiary form to your provider naming the trust as beneficiary. Many providers accept this through an online portal. Directing the death benefit into the trust lets your successor trustee distribute the proceeds under your instructions instead of handing a lump sum to a single person.
Digital Assets
Cryptocurrency and online accounts need specific planning. For crypto held in self-custody, where you control the private keys, your trustee must have access to those keys to manage the assets. For crypto on a centralized exchange, you can often update account ownership or beneficiary designation directly with the exchange. At minimum, document your digital holdings and access credentials in a secure location referenced in your estate plan.
A Caution on Retirement Accounts
Naming a trust as the direct beneficiary of an IRA or 401(k) can accelerate the required withdrawal timeline and create unexpected taxes for your heirs. Under the SECURE Act, most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit an IRA must withdraw the entire balance within 10 years of the account holder’s death. When a trust is the named beneficiary, the IRS applies this 10-year rule, or a five-year window if the trust does not meet specific “see-through” requirements. To qualify for the 10-year timeline, the trust must be valid under state law, become irrevocable at the account holder’s death, have beneficiaries the IRS can identify, and provide required documentation to the IRA custodian.2Internal Revenue Service. Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
Missing a required distribution triggers a 25% excise tax on the shortfall, which drops to 10% if corrected within two years.3Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2024-35 Many estate planners recommend naming individual beneficiaries directly on retirement accounts and using the trust for other asset types. If you do want the trust to hold these accounts, work with a tax professional to confirm the trust document meets the IRS see-through requirements.
Add a Pour-Over Will
Even with careful funding, you will probably acquire new assets after creating the trust, or forget to retitle something. A pour-over will acts as a safety net by directing any property still in your personal name at death into the trust. Without one, those stray assets pass under your state’s default inheritance rules, which may send property to people you did not intend.
A pour-over will does go through probate, but it makes sure the leftover assets end up governed by the trust’s distribution instructions. Most online trust platforms offer a pour-over will as part of the package or as an inexpensive add-on.
Changing or Revoking Your Trust Later
A revocable trust can change as your life changes. You have two main options:
- An amendment is a separate written document that changes specific provisions while leaving the rest of the trust intact. Amendments work well for simple updates: adding a grandchild as a beneficiary, swapping your successor trustee, or adjusting a distribution age.
- A restatement replaces the trust’s terms entirely in a single new document. The trust itself continues to exist, so you do not need to retitle assets, but the terms start fresh. Restatements are useful when several amendments have piled up or when you want to keep earlier versions private, since the restatement supersedes everything that came before.
Sign the amendment or restatement with the same formalities as the original: notarization and witnesses where required. Tell your successor trustee what changed, and store the new document with the signed original.
To dissolve the trust entirely, revoke it in writing and retitle all the trust’s assets back into your personal name. A trustee who has not been notified of a revocation is not liable for continuing to follow the original terms, so communicate the change clearly to anyone involved in managing trust property.