The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Kansas?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 11, 2026 Updated September 27, 2026 9 min read

Quick answer

No Kansas law sets what a living trust costs, and we found no published source for Kansas trust-drafting prices as of September 2026 that is not a law firm, an online document seller, or a site paid to refer customers to one. Kansas sets no percentage schedule — fees are whatever is just and reasonable — and Kansas offers a transfer-on-death deed, which passes the home outside probate without a trust.

⚠️ Educational information only — not legal, tax, or financial advice.

The figures on this page are the ones a statute or a named, dated publisher sets. Laws, fees, thresholds, and prices differ by state and change often, and your own situation may change the result. Before you act, confirm the current numbers and rules for Kansas with a licensed professional — an attorney, tax advisor, or licensed agent as appropriate. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship.

What a living trust actually costs in Kansas

There are three ways to set up a revocable living trust in Kansas. What each includes differs; what each costs is not set by law and is not published by any independent source we could find:

How it’s prepared Price in Kansas What the engagement or the service’s terms state
Attorney-drafted Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 Whatever the written engagement letter lists. It is the engagement, not a market convention, that fixes the scope.
Online service Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 Whatever the service’s own published terms list.
DIY template Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 The document alone. Drafting and funding are the purchaser’s to do.

We found no published source for this figure as of September 2026. The Kansas trust prices that are published come from law firms, online document sellers, or sites paid to refer customers to them. None is an independent publisher, so none is cited here.

No Kansas statute sets what a living trust costs. Kansas trust law governs how a trust is created and administered; it fixes no drafting charge. What is fixed by law is the probate side of the comparison, below. A trust holds assets outside probate only to the extent those assets are retitled into it, and deed preparation — the step that retitles real estate — is a separate charge wherever the trust is drafted.

What drives the price within Kansas

No Kansas statute sets any of these, and we found no independent published source for how much each moves the price as of September 2026. They are the items a drafting engagement is made of:

  • A joint trust for a married couple, against a single-person trust, against two separate trusts.
  • A new deed drafted and recorded for every property retitled into the trust, and a separate one in each other state where property is held.
  • A blended family, a special-needs beneficiary, a business interest, or estate-tax exposure.
  • Whether the price covers the trust document alone or a package with a pour-over will and powers of attorney.

What probate costs in Kansas by comparison

A funded living trust holds assets outside probate. The figure it is measured against is therefore the cost of Kansas probate itself.

Kansas sets no statutory percentage probate fee. Fees are 'just and reasonable' under K.S.A. §59-1717 rather than a percentage of the estate, Kansas separately provides a transfer-on-death deed (K.S.A. §59-3501) and, under K.S.A. §59-1507b, an affidavit procedure that applies where the total assets of the decedent's estate subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value — a figure last moved by L. 2024, ch. 35, §2, after L. 2023, ch. 77, §7, and §59-1507b(c) defines the "successor" who may use it as a person entitled to the property by will or intestate succession, or nominated as personal representative under the will.

We found no published source for what probate costs in total in Kansas as of September 2026. The ranges that are published come from law firms, online document sellers, or sites paid to refer customers to them, so none is cited here. What is fixed is the statutory docket fee for "[p]robate of an estate or of a will", which K.S.A. §59-104(a)(1) sets at $109.50. §59-104(a)(2) provides that this is the only fee collected, that it may be set only by an act of the legislature, and that the supreme court may impose an additional charge of up to $22 per docket fee; the published text of that subsection still shows the authority running only through 30 June 2025, while 2026 House Bill 2393, signed by the Governor, extends it through 30 June 2030. K.S.A. §60-2001(a) is a different fee — the district court's general civil docket fee, $173 — and §59-104(b) brings across only §60-2001(b), the poverty affidavit in lieu of a fee.

For the full breakdown, see How Much Does Probate Cost in Kansas?.

How Kansas probate cost compares to trust cost

Kansas provides a TOD deed, payable-on-death designations, and a small-estate affidavit under K.S.A. §59-1507b, which applies where the total assets of the decedent's estate subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value. The threshold is measured on total probate assets, not on personal property alone, though personal property is what the affidavit transfers. A trust's documented effects here are ancillary-probate avoidance, privacy, and controlled distributions.

A living trust operates on two things: assets retitled into it pass outside probate, and the trust document governs management if the grantor becomes incapacitated. Those are the documented functions; the figures above are what each costs in Kansas.

Kansas-specific things to know

Kansas adopted the Kansas Uniform Trust Code, K.S.A. §58a-101 et seq. §58a-101 states the short title and carries the history line "L. 2002, ch. 133, § 1; January 1, 2003", so the act was passed in 2002 and took effect on 1 January 2003. Kansas is a common-law (separate property) state and has no state estate or inheritance tax.

Funding. A trust only avoids probate for assets you retitle into it — recording a deed transferring Kansas real estate into the trust and updating account ownership. In Kansas, a transfer-on-death deed is a narrower alternative to a trust, covering the home alone. A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it; assets left in the grantor’s own name pass through probate whether or not a trust exists.

What affects the price in Kansas

We found no published source for Kansas trust pricing as of September 2026, so this page states no range and no price drivers beyond what the work itself consists of, above. The one price on this page that is fixed by law is the probate court’s, in the section above, with the statute that fixes it cited there.

What determines whether a trust applies in Kansas

In Kansas the operative factors are out-of-state real property, privacy, blended families, and controlled distributions to a beneficiary. In-state homes can pass by TOD deed.

The circumstances in which a living trust has a documented effect:

  • Real estate, particularly in more than one state — property in another state otherwise requires a separate ancillary probate there.
  • Privacy — a probated will becomes a public court record; a trust does not.
  • Incapacity — a trust governs management during life; a will takes effect only at death.
  • Staged distributions — a trust can direct payment over time; a will distributes at closing.

Where an estate consists of assets that already pass by beneficiary designation or joint ownership, those assets bypass probate without a trust. For the documented differences between the two instruments, see Will vs. Trust: How They Differ.

What the record shows

Item Kansas
Price of a living trust Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026
Governing statutes K.S.A. §59-1717 (reasonable fiduciary and attorney fees); K.S.A. §58a-101 et seq. (Kansas Uniform Trust Code); K.S.A. §59-3501 (transfer-on-death deed); K.S.A. §59-1507b (small-estate affidavit limit)
State authority Kansas Judicial Council (kjc.ks.gov)

A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it; an unfunded trust leaves those assets in probate. The Kansas probate figures this is measured against are set out above with their citations. No figure is published here for what a trust costs to draft: we found no independent published source as of September 2026.

Living trust costs in other states

Compare Kansas with living trust pricing in other states:

This page sets out what Kansas law fixes about a living trust and the probate it is measured against, as of September 2026. It is not legal or financial advice; statutes and thresholds change and depend on your situation. Confirm current figures and rules with a licensed Kansas attorney. It states no drafting price, because we found no independent published source for one. Sources: Kansas Judicial Council (kjc.ks.gov); K.S.A. §59-1717 (reasonable fiduciary and attorney fees), K.S.A. §58a-101 et seq. (Kansas Uniform Trust Code), K.S.A. §59-3501 (transfer-on-death deed), K.S.A. §59-1507b (small-estate affidavit limit).

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