The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Pennsylvania?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 11, 2026 Updated September 23, 2026 9 min read

Quick answer

No Pennsylvania law sets what a living trust costs, and we found no published source for Pennsylvania 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. A revocable living trust removes the assets retitled into it from probate, but it does **not** remove them from Pennsylvania inheritance tax: Pennsylvania taxes inheritances from the first dollar, at a rate set by the beneficiary's relationship, whether the asset passes through probate or through a trust. Pennsylvania's inheritance tax rate turns on the beneficiary's relationship, not on the size of the estate, and there is no general dollar exemption: 0% to a surviving spouse for deaths on or after January 1, 1995 (72 P.S. §9116(a)(1.1)(ii)); 0% on a transfer from a child aged 21 or younger to a natural, adoptive or stepparent (§9116(a)(1.2)); 4.5% to lineal beneficiaries — grandparents, parents, lineal descendants and the spouse of a child (§9116(a)(1)); 12% to a sibling, meaning someone with at least one parent in common by blood or adoption (§9116(a)(1.3), §9102); and 15% to everyone else. Section 9111 exempts qualifying family farmland and small family-owned businesses on continuing conditions, which still have to be reported on a timely return.

⚠️ 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania

There are three ways to set up a revocable living trust in Pennsylvania. 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania statute sets what a living trust costs. Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania

No Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania by comparison

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

Pennsylvania probate runs through the county Register of Wills and is more moderate than statutory-fee states — there's no fixed percentage attorney fee — but it still means court fees, attorney fees, a public record, and months of administration. The bigger Pennsylvania cost is usually the inheritance tax, which a revocable trust does not avoid.

Pennsylvania sets no statutory percentage for probate and attorney fees. The Pennsylvania inheritance tax is often the larger number — the 4.5% lineal rate under 72 P.S. §9116(a)(1) on a $400,000 estate passing to children is $18,000 — and a revocable living trust does not reduce it (paying within three months earns a 5% discount).

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

How Pennsylvania probate cost compares to trust cost

In Pennsylvania a revocable living trust operates on probate avoidance, privacy, ancillary-probate avoidance for out-of-state property, and incapacity management. It does not reduce Pennsylvania inheritance tax: the tax applies to transfers at the applicable class rate whether or not the asset passes through probate. Only lifetime transfers or certain irrevocable structures affect that liability.

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 Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania-specific things to know

Pennsylvania is not a community-property state. Its defining estate-planning feature is the inheritance tax, which applies whether assets pass through probate or a revocable trust. Pennsylvania's inheritance tax rate turns on the beneficiary's relationship, not on the size of the estate, and there is no general dollar exemption: 0% to a surviving spouse for deaths on or after January 1, 1995 (72 P.S. §9116(a)(1.1)(ii)); 0% on a transfer from a child aged 21 or younger to a natural, adoptive or stepparent (§9116(a)(1.2)); 4.5% to lineal beneficiaries — grandparents, parents, lineal descendants and the spouse of a child (§9116(a)(1)); 12% to a sibling, meaning someone with at least one parent in common by blood or adoption (§9116(a)(1.3), §9102); and 15% to everyone else. Section 9111 exempts qualifying family farmland and small family-owned businesses on continuing conditions, which still have to be reported on a timely return. Pennsylvania has adopted a version of the Uniform Trust Act (20 Pa.C.S. Ch. 77).

Funding. A Pennsylvania trust avoids probate only for assets retitled into it — a new deed for real estate and ownership changes on accounts. Just remember those same assets still owe Pennsylvania inheritance tax. 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 Pennsylvania

We found no published source for Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania the operative factors are privacy, transfer speed, out-of-state real property, and incapacity planning. Pennsylvania inheritance tax applies to trust-held assets on the same terms as probate assets.

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 Pennsylvania
Price of a living trust Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026
Governing statutes 20 Pa.C.S. Ch. 77 (Pennsylvania Uniform Trust Act); 72 P.S. §9101 et seq. (inheritance tax); 20 Pa.C.S. §3101 et seq. (probate)
State authority Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — Inheritance Tax

A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it; an unfunded trust leaves those assets in probate. The Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania with living trust pricing in other states:

This page sets out what Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania attorney. It states no drafting price, because we found no independent published source for one. Sources: Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — Inheritance Tax; 20 Pa.C.S. Ch. 77 (Pennsylvania Uniform Trust Act), 72 P.S. §9101 et seq. (inheritance tax), 20 Pa.C.S. §3101 et seq. (probate).

Related guides