The Estate Planning Decision That's More Expensive to Get Wrong Than to Get Right
A basic will costs less to create than a trust. That fact alone convinces a lot of people the decision is settled before they've even looked at what happens after they're gone. It isn't settled, because the real cost of a will isn't the document itself, it's the process your family goes through once you're no longer around to help.
A simple will typically costs $150 to $1,000 if drafted by an attorney, occasionally less through an online service. A revocable living trust runs considerably more, $1,500 to $5,000 for an individual through an attorney, sometimes up to $8,000 for a couple with a more complex estate, or $400 to $1,000 through an online legal service if you're comfortable with a more DIY approach.
Here's the part the sticker price doesn't show you: a will has to go through probate, a court-supervised process that validates the will and oversees distribution of your assets. Probate typically takes 6 to 18 months and costs 3% to 7% of the total estate value in legal and court fees, money that comes directly out of what your heirs eventually receive. On a $500,000 estate, that's $15,000 to $35,000 disappearing into the process itself before anyone gets their inheritance.
A properly funded revocable living trust avoids probate entirely. Assets titled in the trust's name pass directly to your named beneficiaries according to your instructions, without court involvement, without the multi-month wait, and without the public record that probate creates, trust administration happens privately, while probate is a matter of public court record anyone can look up.
The word "properly funded" matters more than people realize going in. Creating a trust document alone doesn't do anything, you have to actually retitle your assets, bank accounts, real estate, brokerage accounts, into the name of the trust for it to avoid probate on those specific items. Forgetting to fund the trust with a particular asset means that asset still goes through probate anyway, defeating a meaningful part of the purpose. Real estate requires recording a new deed with the county. Bank and brokerage accounts require contacting the institution directly to retitle the account, often doable in a single visit or phone call.
A common worry worth addressing directly: transferring your home into a revocable trust does not trigger your mortgage being called due. The federal Garn-St. Germain Act specifically protects this transfer for a revocable trust, though it's still good practice to notify your lender as a courtesy.
Trusts aren't universally the better choice, and a few honest exceptions are worth knowing:
- Some states have simpler, cheaper probate processes. Washington State, for example, has a nominal flat probate fee and a comparatively straightforward process, which weakens the case for using a trust purely to avoid probate cost there specifically
- Smaller, simpler estates with few assets and no real estate may not have enough at stake to justify the higher upfront cost of a trust
- If your estate exceeds the federal estate tax exemption, $13.99 million per individual in 2026, an irrevocable trust becomes worth a separate conversation entirely, since that's a different tool solving a different problem than probate avoidance
One trust type worth knowing about regardless of your estate size: a special needs trust, essential if you're supporting a disabled child or adult who receives government benefits like Medicaid or SSI. Leaving money directly to that person, even with the best intentions, can disqualify them from those benefits entirely. A properly structured special needs trust provides financial support without triggering that disqualification.
A trust also requires more ongoing attention than a will does. Any new asset you acquire, a new bank account, an investment property, needs to be actively titled in the trust's name, and reviewing that funding annually is the practical habit that keeps a trust doing its job years after you first set it up.
A practical way to start this conversation with an estate attorney: bring a simple list of what you own, real estate, account types, rough values, and ask them to walk through what probate would actually look like for your specific estate in your specific state, versus what a trust would cost to set up and fund properly. That comparison, run on your actual numbers rather than national averages, is what actually settles the decision. Most estate attorneys offer this comparison during an initial consultation at little or no cost, so it's worth asking for before committing to either path.
