Living Trust vs Will: Differences, Costs and How to Choose

A will is a document that takes effect when you die, says who inherits and who is in charge, and generally goes through probate court. A revocable living trust takes effect as soon as you sign it and move assets into it. It lets someone you choose manage that property if you can't, and it passes the property to your beneficiaries without probate. Many people use both, because a trust only controls what you actually put in it.

Living trust vs will at a glance

What a will does

A will states who gets your property, who your executor is, and, if you have minor children, who you would like to raise them. Parents usually name a guardian for a minor child in a will. Arizona's statute, which says a parent "may appoint by will a guardian of an unmarried minor," is one example, and your state's law decides how it works where you live.

A will does not do anything until you die, and the court then has to confirm it. Probate is that court-supervised process of validating the will, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what is left. For how that works step by step, see what probate is and what an executor does.

What a revocable living trust does

A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement you create while you are alive. You transfer assets to it, you can change or cancel it, and you name a successor trustee. Most people serve as their own trustee at first. If you become too ill to manage money, the successor takes over under the trust's terms, and after your death the successor distributes the assets to your beneficiaries. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes the trust as giving the trustee authority to make decisions if the person who made it can't, and as saying who gets the property after death.

Two details matter. First, the trust only controls what has been moved into it, a step called funding. For a house, that means signing and recording a new deed. For bank and brokerage accounts, it means retitling them or naming the trust as owner with the institution. Second, after you die the trust generally can't be changed. Your successor trustee follows the document, and a poorly funded or poorly drafted trust still leaves gaps.

Does a living trust avoid probate?

It avoids probate for the assets titled in it. Cornell Law School's summary of nonprobate transfers lists living trusts among the ways property can pass at death without a probate proceeding, and notes the benefits of speed, privacy and lower court and attorney costs.

Trusts are not the only way to get that result. These also pass outside probate:

• accounts with a named beneficiary, such as payable on death accounts
• life insurance and retirement accounts with beneficiary designations
• property in joint ownership with survivorship, see joint ownership and death
• a house with a transfer on death deed, in states that allow them

For a modest estate, these can do much of what a trust does at little or no cost. Our guide to bypassing probate compares them, and small estate probate covers the simplified procedures many states offer.

A trust is more useful when you own real estate in more than one state. A will normally means a separate court case, called ancillary probate, in each state where you own land. A trust holding all the properties generally avoids that.

What probate can cost

Probate costs depend on your state. California sets attorney fees by formula: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, and 2% of the next $800,000, and the executor's fee follows the same schedule. On a $1 million estate that is $23,000 for the attorney alone, measured on the gross value of the estate. Many states have no such formula and use "reasonable" fees. See probate fees and costs for examples, and try the estimator below for a rough figure.

What do a will and a trust cost?

Online document services publish their prices, so these are easy to compare. These were listed on each company's own site in October 2026. Prices change, and some states or add-ons cost more.

The higher tiers add things like healthcare directives, powers of attorney and attorney consultations, and some renew at a monthly or yearly fee. Trust & Will also lists a $49 per year membership and an optional $299 attorney support add-on. Our guide to estate planning apps looks at how these services differ.

Lawyer fees for a will or trust vary widely by state, firm and the complexity of your family and assets, so the useful step is to ask two or three attorneys for a flat-fee quote that includes help retitling assets. Remember the extra costs of a trust: recording a deed, and the time spent moving accounts.

What a trust does not do

Several common beliefs about trusts are wrong, and they are worth knowing before you pay for one.

• It does not protect your assets from creditors during your life. Under Florida law, for example, the property of a revocable trust is subject to the claims of the settlor's creditors during the settlor's lifetime. After death, California's code makes a deceased person's revocable trust property available to pay claims against the probate estate to the extent the estate can't cover them.
• It does not change your income taxes while you are alive. The IRS treats a revocable trust as a grantor trust, so the income is taxed to you and reported on your own return. After you die the trust generally becomes its own taxpayer and files Form 1041 if it has $600 or more in income.
• It does not remove assets from your taxable estate. Revocable transfers are included in the gross estate under federal law (26 U.S.C. 2038).
• It does not shelter assets for Medicaid. For Medicaid purposes, federal law counts the assets of a revocable trust as the person's own resources.
• It does not change the tax basis rule. Property in a revocable trust at death gets a stepped-up basis under 26 U.S.C. 1014(b)(2), just as inherited property does under a will.

What about estate tax?

The federal estate tax exclusion is $15,000,000 per person for deaths in 2026, up from $13,990,000 in 2025, after a 2025 law (Public Law 119-21). A married couple can often combine their exclusions by making a portability election on a timely estate tax return. So the tax only matters for large estates, and a basic revocable trust doesn't reduce it. Some states have their own estate or inheritance tax with lower thresholds, and a trust doesn't avoid those either. Pennsylvania's inheritance tax, for instance, is 4.5% on transfers to direct descendants. If your estate is near any of these limits, talk to an estate planning attorney or tax professional.

One more practical point: a mortgage doesn't have to be a barrier to funding a trust. Federal law (the Garn-St Germain Act) bars lenders from enforcing a due-on-sale clause when a borrower transfers a home into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower remains a beneficiary, for the residential loans it covers.

Who usually chooses a will, and who a trust

A will is often enough if:

• your assets are modest, or most of them already pass by beneficiary designation or joint ownership
• you have no real estate in another state
• you mainly want to name an executor and a guardian for your children
• you want the lowest cost and the simplest paperwork

If that sounds like you, an online will can be a reasonable start, as long as you follow your state's signing rules. Most states require a written will signed in front of two witnesses.

A trust is worth considering if:

• you own real estate, especially in more than one state, and your state's probate process is slow or costly
• you want your affairs to stay out of the public court record
• you want a plan for managing your finances if you develop dementia or become seriously ill
• you want to hold an inheritance for young beneficiaries and control when they receive it
• you have a blended family and want more control over who gets what

If a trust fits, you still need other documents. A trust does not replace a durable power of attorney for assets outside it or a health care directive; see advance directive vs living will.

Common mistakes

1. Never funding the trust. A signed trust with a house still deeded to you personally leaves the house to go through probate.
2. Skipping the pour-over will. A pour-over will sends any leftover assets into the trust at death and is also where you would name a guardian for your kids. Those assets may still go through probate first.
3. Naming a trust as a retirement account beneficiary without advice. IRS Publication 590-B says a trust can't itself be a designated beneficiary, but its beneficiaries can be treated as designated beneficiaries if the trust meets conditions, including being valid and irrevocable at death. Check with the plan administrator and a lawyer first.
4. Forgetting beneficiary designations. Accounts with named beneficiaries ignore both your will and your trust, so keep them current. Use our beneficiary update checklist.
5. Using a form from another state. Signing, witnessing and property rules differ from state to state.
6. Choosing the wrong trustee. The trustee has legal duties to the beneficiaries and can be sued or removed for failing them, so choose someone organized and trustworthy, and name a backup.

What to do next

1. List what you own and how each asset is titled. Note which already pass by beneficiary or joint ownership.
2. Decide whether you need a guardian named for children, a plan for incapacity, or property in more than one state. Those points usually tip the choice.
3. Get a flat-fee quote from an estate planning attorney, or choose an online service if your situation is simple. Whichever you pick, finish signing and funding.
4. Tell your executor or successor trustee where the documents are, and review everything after a marriage, divorce, birth, move to a new state or large change in assets. If you die without a will, see dying without a will.