To start a trust, you need as little as one dollar to fund it legally, but you should budget roughly $1,000 to $5,000 in attorney fees for a standard revocable trust package, plus a few hundred dollars for transferring assets like real estate. How much money you need to start a trust depends far more on setup and administration costs than on any minimum funding requirement, because no law sets one.
The Legal Minimum to Fund a Trust
No federal or state law requires a specific dollar amount to create a trust. The only legal requirement is that the trust hold some identifiable property, which lawyers call the trust “res.” A trust comes into existence when property is transferred to a trustee, when an owner declares they hold property as trustee, or when a power of appointment is exercised in favor of a trustee.1Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-7-401 – Methods of Creating Trust
That means you could technically fund a trust with a ten-dollar bill and have a legally valid arrangement. Many people do start with a nominal amount to confirm the trust is properly drafted before retitling major assets into it. So the practical question is not “how much do I have to put in?” but “how much will it cost to set up and run?”
Setup Costs
The biggest upfront cost is professional help drafting the document. The main options are an estate planning attorney, an online document service, or a combination.
Attorney Fees
A standard trust package from an estate planning attorney typically costs between $1,000 and $5,000. That package usually includes the trust document itself, a pour-over will, a financial power of attorney, and a healthcare directive. Attorneys either charge a flat fee for the bundle or bill hourly at rates that generally fall between $150 and $400. Flat fees are more common and more predictable for straightforward trusts.
Complex situations push the bill higher. Business interests, blended families, significant estate tax planning, or an irrevocable trust structure can bring fees to $6,000 or more.
Online Document Services
If your financial situation is simple, online platforms create trust documents starting around $250 and running up to about $1,000 for premium packages. These services build the document from a questionnaire. They work reasonably well for basic revocable living trusts but don’t provide personalized tax or family planning advice. You also have to fund the trust yourself, which is where people without professional guidance most often make costly mistakes.
Notary Fees
Trust documents need notarization. Notary fees are small, generally $2 to $25 per signature depending on state rules, with some states capping the amount. A mobile notary who comes to you will add a travel fee.
Revocable vs. Irrevocable: How the Type Changes the Cost
The single biggest driver of what you’ll spend is which type of trust you create.
Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust lets you keep full control of the assets during your lifetime. You can change the terms, add or remove property, or dissolve the trust entirely. Because you keep control, the IRS treats it as a “grantor trust,” and trust income is reported on your personal return rather than a separate one.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 671 – Trust Income, Deductions, and Credits Attributable to Grantors and Others as Substantial Owners Most revocable trust owners use what the IRS calls “Optional Method 1,” meaning no separate trust tax return is required during the grantor’s lifetime.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1041 and Schedules A, B, G, J, and K-1 That eliminates a recurring four-figure preparation cost. Attorney fees for a revocable trust typically run $1,000 to $3,000.
Irrevocable Trust
An irrevocable trust permanently removes assets from your control. Once funded, you generally cannot take property back or change the terms without beneficiary consent or a court order. In exchange, irrevocable trusts can reduce estate taxes and shield assets from creditors. Drafting fees typically run $2,000 to $6,000 or more.
Ongoing costs are higher too. An irrevocable trust is a separate taxpayer: it needs its own Employer Identification Number, must file annual returns, and usually requires professional tax preparation. Transferring assets in may also trigger gift tax reporting.
Cost of Moving Real Estate Into the Trust
If the trust will hold real estate, which is one of the main reasons people set trusts up, expect additional costs to retitle the property. A trust that names your home but doesn’t hold the deed to it does nothing to avoid probate for that house.
- Deed preparation. A new deed, usually a quitclaim or warranty deed, transfers the property from your individual name to yourself as trustee. Professional preparation runs $150 to $300.
- Recording fees. The new deed must be recorded with your county recorder. Filing fees generally range from $25 to $200, with some counties adding per-page charges.
- Title insurance endorsement. Many title insurers will issue an endorsement updating the policy to reflect trust ownership for about $75 to $100, which is much cheaper than buying a new policy.
- Transfer taxes. Most states exempt transfers into a revocable living trust from real estate transfer taxes, since you’re transferring property to yourself in a different legal capacity rather than truly changing ownership. Rules vary, so confirm with your county recorder before filing.
Moving real estate into a revocable living trust generally does not trigger a property tax reassessment, since you remain the beneficial owner. Your assessed value and property tax bill should stay the same.
Ongoing Costs
Expenses continue after the document is signed. What you pay depends on whether you administer the trust yourself or hire someone.
Trustee Fees
If you appoint a corporate trustee such as a bank trust department or trust company, the annual management fee typically runs 1% to 2% of the trust’s total assets. On a $500,000 trust, that is $5,000 to $10,000 per year. Many corporate trustees also charge minimum annual fees of $3,000 to $5,000, so smaller trusts can pay a disproportionately high percentage of their value.
Serving as your own trustee, standard for a revocable living trust during your lifetime, avoids these fees. You take on the investment management, recordkeeping, and distributions instead.
Tax Preparation and EIN
Applying for an EIN through the IRS website is free and takes only a few minutes.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number A revocable living trust typically doesn’t need its own EIN during the grantor’s lifetime; the grantor’s Social Security number works. An irrevocable trust needs one from the start, and a revocable trust needs one once the grantor dies.
For trusts that must file Form 1041, professional preparation is a recurring cost.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts According to IRS estimates, the average out-of-pocket cost for a simple trust return is about $1,300, and about $2,000 for a complex return.6Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 1041 and Schedules A, B, G, J, and K-1 Grantor trusts that do file average about $1,200. Costs vary with trust income, the number of beneficiaries receiving K-1 schedules, and location.
Investment and Property Costs
Investments held inside a trust carry the same management fees and expense ratios as personal accounts. The trust wrapper neither adds nor removes those costs. Real estate inside the trust still has its usual maintenance, insurance, and property tax bills.
When a Trust Is Worth the Cost
Financial planners generally say a revocable living trust becomes cost-effective once total assets, including real estate, investments, life insurance death benefits, and retirement balances, reach roughly $100,000 to $200,000. Below that, setup and maintenance can exceed what you’d save by avoiding probate.
The comparison that matters is trust administration versus probate. Probate costs, including court filing fees, attorney fees, and executor compensation, commonly consume 3% to 7% of an estate’s value. On a $200,000 estate, that’s $6,000 to $14,000, which makes a $2,000 to $4,000 trust a reasonable investment. Larger estates tilt the math further toward a trust.
Cheaper Alternatives Below That Threshold
If your assets fall below the range where a trust pays for itself, simpler tools can accomplish many of the same goals at little or no cost:
- Payable-on-death designations on bank and brokerage accounts move those funds directly to your chosen recipient without probate. The financial institution’s form is free.
- Transfer-on-death deeds, available in many states, let real estate pass to a named beneficiary at your death while you keep full ownership during your lifetime.
- Small estate affidavits let beneficiaries collect assets with a sworn statement instead of full probate. State thresholds vary widely, from as low as $1,000 to over $150,000.
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance move those assets outside probate at no extra cost. Keeping them current does the same job a trust would for those specific accounts.
A trust is most worth the money when you own real estate, have minor children who may need a managed inheritance, want to plan for potential incapacity, or have a blended family where distribution instructions need to be detailed and binding.
Don’t Pay for a Trust You Never Fund
A trust that exists on paper but never receives assets, sometimes called an “unfunded trust,” is one of the most common and costly estate planning mistakes. If you sign the document but never retitle your home, bank accounts, or investments into the trust’s name, those assets go through probate as though the trust didn’t exist. The money you spent on drafting delivers none of the protection you paid for.
The problem goes beyond probate. If you become incapacitated and your assets sit outside the trust, a court may need to appoint a guardian to manage them, which is the exact expense the trust was meant to prevent. Assets that pass through probate also become part of the public record, undoing the privacy a properly funded trust provides.
Many attorneys include a funding session in their package and walk you through retitling accounts. If yours doesn’t, ask about it or budget for a follow-up meeting focused on funding. The document is only half the work, and the money you save skipping funding is money wasted on the rest.