The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Virginia?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 11, 2026 Updated September 23, 2026 8 min read

Quick answer

No Virginia law sets what a living trust costs, and we found no published source for Virginia 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. Virginia is one of the few states with a probate tax — 10 cents per $100 of the whole value of the estate, with no probate tax at all on estates of $15,000 or less (Va. Code §58.1-1712), plus a possible local add-on — on top of attorney fees that often run 3% to 5% of the estate. A living trust avoids the probate tax, the public court process, and the typical 6-to-18-month administration.

⚠️ 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 Virginia 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 Virginia

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

No Virginia 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 Virginia by comparison

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

Virginia charges a probate tax of 10 cents per $100 (0.1%) of the value of the estate. Va. Code §58.1-1712 exempts estates of $15,000 or less entirely; above that threshold the tax is charged on the whole value, not just the part over $15,000. Va. Code §58.1-1718 lets a city or county add a local probate tax equal to one-third of the state tax. Virginia does not set attorney fees for probate administration by statute, and the process is public.

On a $500,000 Virginia estate, the state probate tax alone is $500 — 10 cents per $100 of the full $500,000 under Va. Code §58.1-1712, not of the amount over the $15,000 exemption threshold — plus any local add-on of up to one-third of that, and probate attorney fees are separate and not set by statute. A living trust avoids the probate tax entirely and keeps the estate out of the public court record.

For the full breakdown, see What Is Probate and How Does It Work?.

How Virginia probate cost compares to trust cost

Virginia charges a probate tax in addition to attorney fees: Va. Code §58.1-1712 imposes a tax of 10 cents for every $100 of value, or fraction of $100, on the value of the estate determined under §58.1-1713, and does not apply to estates of $15,000 or less. We found no published source for how long a Virginia probate runs, so no duration is stated. Assets titled into a funded trust are outside the probate tax base. Estates within Virginia's small-asset thresholds use the simplified procedures.

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 Virginia.

Virginia-specific things to know

Virginia is not a community-property state. The probate tax under Va. Code §58.1-1712 is documented above; the federal estate tax applies only above the basic exclusion amount. Virginia has adopted the Uniform Trust Code (Code of Virginia, Title 64.2, Chapter 7).

Funding. A Virginia trust avoids probate only for assets retitled into it — a new deed for real estate and ownership changes on accounts. Virginia also allows Transfer on Death Deeds and POD/TOD account designations as narrower probate-avoidance tools. 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 Virginia

We found no published source for Virginia 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 Virginia

In Virginia the operative factors are the probate tax on real estate and other probate assets, out-of-state property, and public-record exposure. Small estates qualify for the simplified small-asset procedures.

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 Virginia
Price of a living trust Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026
Governing statutes Va. Code §58.1-1712 to §58.1-1718 (probate tax); Va. Code Title 64.2, Ch. 7 (Uniform Trust Code); Va. Code §64.2-621 (transfer on death deed)
State authority Virginia Tax — Probate Tax (tax.virginia.gov/probate-tax)

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

This page sets out what Virginia 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 Virginia attorney. It states no drafting price, because we found no independent published source for one. Sources: Virginia Tax — Probate Tax (tax.virginia.gov/probate-tax); Va. Code §58.1-1712 to §58.1-1718 (probate tax), Va. Code Title 64.2, Ch. 7 (Uniform Trust Code), Va. Code §64.2-621 (transfer on death deed).

Related guides