What does a trust cost in California?
It is the first question almost everyone asks, and the honest answer is that "a trust" has three different price tags that get tangled together: what it costs to create one, what it costs to administer one after a death, and what it costs to have no trust at all and go through probate. They are not the same bill, and the third one is usually the largest by far. Here is each, in plain numbers, and where a professional fiduciary's fee does — and does not — come into it.
Three costs people run together.
Before any numbers, the single most useful thing is to separate what is actually being priced. When someone asks "what does a trust cost," they could mean any of three very different things:
One — creating the trust. The up-front cost of having the document drawn up. This is the estate planning attorney's fee. Two — administering the trust after the person who created it dies, when a trustee steps in to manage and distribute it. This is a separate, later cost. Three — not having a trust at all, in which case the estate goes through probate and pays California's statutory probate fees. The rest of this guide takes them one at a time, because confusing them is how people end up comparing the wrong numbers.
Cost one: creating the trust (the attorney's fee).
Creating a living trust means having the document drafted, and in California that is legal work done by an estate planning attorney. As a rough map of the market: a do-it-yourself or online-software trust runs roughly $400 to $1,000; an attorney-drafted revocable living trust for a straightforward estate commonly falls in the $2,000 to $5,000 range, often starting around $2,500; and a complex estate — multiple properties, a business interest, blended-family distributions, or genuine tax planning — can reasonably run $6,000 to $10,000 or more. These are market ranges, they vary by region and by year, and they are the attorney's fee.
A well-built plan is usually more than the trust alone: a proper estate-plan package bundles the living trust with a pour-over will, financial and health-care powers of attorney, and an advance health care directive. Signing costs are nominal — a notary runs a few dollars a signature. And it bears repeating that the cheapest route is not automatically the best value: a generic template that mishandles California's community-property or title rules can cost far more to fix than sound drafting would have cost at the start.
To be clear about our role here: a professional fiduciary does not draft trusts and charges nothing for creating one — that is the attorney's work. Where a fiduciary's fee enters is the next cost down.
Cost two: administering the trust later.
When the person who created the trust dies (or becomes unable to manage their affairs), someone has to actually do the work: gather and value the assets, pay the final bills and taxes, account to the beneficiaries, and distribute what the trust holds. That is trust administration, and its cost is a separate matter from drafting.
Unlike probate, trust administration cost is not fixed by statute — it is negotiable and depends on the size and complexity of the estate. The reassuring part is that straightforward trust administration is typically handled in weeks rather than the many months probate takes, and at a fraction of probate's cost. Where a licensed professional fiduciary serves as trustee, the fee follows the fiduciary's own published schedule rather than any court formula. Rather than restate numbers that belong in one place, this practice's fee schedule lays out exactly how that works — it is linked at the end of this guide.
Cost three: not having a trust (the one that hurts).
This is the comparison that actually matters, and in California it is severe. Without a trust, an estate above the small-estate threshold goes through probate — and California sets the attorney and personal-representative fees by statute, as a percentage of the gross value of the estate. "Gross" is the catch: the percentage is figured on the full value before any mortgage or debt is subtracted, so a heavily mortgaged $800,000 home is billed as $800,000.
The statutory schedule is 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, then 1% and half a percent on amounts above that — and both the attorney and the estate's representative are each entitled to that fee, so in practice the percentages are doubled. The result, in round numbers:
A $500,000 estate runs about $26,000 in combined statutory fees; an $800,000 estate about $38,000; a $1 million estate about $46,000; a $1.5 million estate more than $50,000. And those are only the statutory fees — court filing, publication, the probate referee's appraisal, and any bond come on top, as does a wait of twelve to eighteen months or longer. Set against that, a few thousand dollars of planning that avoids probate is not really a cost; it is a saving.
What about estate tax?
People sometimes fold estate tax into the cost question. For nearly everyone it does not belong there. California has no state estate tax, and the federal exemption is very high — $15 million for an individual and $30 million for a married couple in 2026. Unless an estate approaches those numbers, estate tax simply is not a cost to plan around, and an ordinary revocable living trust is not built to reduce it. What a living trust saves is the probate cost above, along with the time and the privacy your family keeps. Estates that genuinely approach the federal exemption are in different territory and need an attorney's tax planning.
Ongoing cost — and the one that quietly matters.
A revocable living trust has essentially no annual cost while you are alive and acting as your own trustee; you manage your money exactly as before. The only later costs are the occasional amendment if your wishes or the law change — a small change might be a few hundred dollars, a full restatement more — and the administration cost after death already covered.
The discipline that costs nothing yet matters most is keeping the trust funded: titling new assets into it as you acquire them. A trust only avoids probate on what it actually owns, so an asset left out of the trust is an asset that still faces the very probate cost the trust was meant to spare it. The mechanics of funding are covered in the setup guide linked below.
Where a professional fiduciary fits in.
On cost, the boundary is simple. A professional fiduciary does not draft your trust and charges nothing for creating it — that is your attorney's fee. Where a licensed professional fiduciary comes in is administering a trust: serving as trustee or successor trustee, doing the gathering, accounting, tax filing, and distribution when a family member cannot or should not, and when neutral, professional handling is worth it.
That work is charged on a published, transparent basis rather than a court formula. The fee schedule sets out exactly how, so there are no surprises.
Where to go next.
Depending on what you are working through, here is where to read further:
For this practice's actual fees — how a professional fiduciary's time and trustee services are billed — see the fee schedule.
To understand the trustee and administration role a professional fiduciary serves in, see trust administration services in California.
If your real question is how to set one up — the document, the signing, and the funding step that makes it work — see how to set up a living trust in California.
And if you are still deciding whether you need a trust or just a will, the comparison is here: trust vs. will in California.
The drafting and its fee are your attorney's. Serving as trustee and handling the administration afterward is where we can help, on a clear published basis.
Common questions.
How much does it cost to set up a trust in California?
For most people the honest range is about $2,000 to $5,000 for an attorney-drafted revocable living trust covering a straightforward estate, and $6,000 to $10,000 or more where things are complex — multiple properties, a business, or tax planning. Do-it-yourself software trusts run roughly $400 to $1,000. That fee is the estate planning attorney's; a professional fiduciary does not draft trusts and does not charge for that. What you are buying at this stage is the document and the legal work behind it, ideally as part of a package that also includes a pour-over will, powers of attorney, and a health-care directive.
Why is there such a wide price range?
Because "a trust" can mean very different amounts of work. A single person with a home and some accounts is a simple, predictable job. A couple with rental properties, a business interest, children from prior marriages, or estate-tax exposure is not — the drafting has to account for all of it, and the price reflects the hours and expertise involved. Location matters too; attorney rates in coastal California metros run higher than in rural counties. The cheapest option is rarely the right measure: a defective trust can cost far more to repair later than careful drafting would have cost up front.
What does it cost to administer a trust after someone dies?
This is a separate cost from creating the trust, and unlike probate it is not set by statute — it is negotiable and depends on the estate. Straightforward trust administration is often handled in weeks rather than the many months probate takes, and at a fraction of probate's cost. Where a professional fiduciary serves as trustee, the fee follows the fiduciary's own published schedule rather than a court formula. Our fee schedule sets out how that works for this practice; it is linked at the end of this guide.
How does that compare to the cost of not having a trust?
This is the comparison that matters, and in California it is stark. Without a trust, an estate above the small-estate threshold goes through probate, where attorney and personal-representative fees are fixed by statute on the gross value of the estate — before any mortgage is subtracted — and are charged to each of them, so the percentages are effectively doubled. On an $800,000 home that is roughly $38,000 in combined statutory fees; on a $1.5 million estate, more than $50,000 — plus court, publication, appraisal, and bond costs, and twelve to eighteen months or more. A few thousand dollars of planning routinely saves tens of thousands in probate.
Will I owe estate tax — is that part of the cost?
For nearly everyone, no. California has no state estate tax, and the federal estate-tax exemption is very high — $15 million for an individual and $30 million for a married couple in 2026. Unless your estate approaches those figures, estate tax is not a cost you need to plan around, and a standard revocable living trust is not designed to reduce it. What a living trust actually saves is the probate cost described above, plus the time and privacy your family keeps.
Are there ongoing costs once the trust exists?
While you are alive and serving as your own trustee, a revocable living trust has essentially no ongoing cost — you manage your assets as you always have. The two later costs are occasional amendments, if your wishes or the law change (a small change might run a few hundred dollars; a full restatement more), and the administration cost after death described above. There is no annual fee simply for having a trust. The one recurring discipline that costs nothing but matters enormously is keeping the trust funded as you acquire new assets.
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