Educational guide — not legal advice. This page states no price: we found no independent published source for one.
What this page states, and what it does not
No statute anywhere in the US sets what a revocable living trust costs to draft. Drafting a trust is legal work, priced by the person or company doing it.
We found no published source for 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. None is an independent publisher, so none is cited here, and this page states no price for any route.
What the law does set
The figure a trust’s cost is usually compared against is the cost of the probate it is meant to avoid, and that is fixed by statute in many states:
| What the law fixes | Where it is documented |
|---|---|
| Statutory probate fee schedules, where a state has one | Living Trust Cost by State — each state’s page |
| Court filing fees and costs | Probate Cost by State and the per-state fee sheets |
| Small-estate thresholds, below which full probate is not required | Each state’s page |
| The creditor period, which sets the floor on how long probate takes | Probate Timeline by State |
Every one of those figures is cited to the state code on the page that carries it.
What a trust does and does not reach
A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it. Retitling real estate means a new deed drafted and recorded, in each state where property is held; retitling accounts means changing the owner with each institution. That work is charged separately from drafting unless an engagement states otherwise.
Assets with a named beneficiary — retirement accounts, life insurance — and assets held jointly with survivorship pass outside probate by operation of law, whether or not a trust exists.
What the trust codes do and do not fix
Each state’s trust code governs how a trust is created, funded, administered and terminated. None of them fixes a drafting charge.
Ongoing costs
A revocable living trust is disregarded for federal income tax purposes during the settlor’s lifetime and files no separate return while the settlor is alive and the trust is revocable. Amending a trust is legal work and is priced by whoever does it; we found no independent published source for amendment charges as of September 2026.
What the record shows
No statute sets what a living trust costs to draft, and no independent publisher reports a figure we could cite, so this page states none. What the record does contain is each state’s probate fee schedule, court fees, small-estate threshold and creditor period, each cited to the state code, and the rule that a trust reaches only what is retitled into it.
Related reading
- Living Trust Cost by State — the probate figures for all 50 states, cited
- Will vs. Trust: How They Differ
- How to Avoid Probate
- What Is Probate and How Does It Work?
- How Much Does a Will Cost with a Lawyer?
Educational information only — not legal advice. This page states no price: no statute sets one and we found no independent published source as of September 2026. Probate fees, thresholds and creditor periods are state law and are cited on each state’s page.