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Updated September 24, 2026. Quick answer: Utah attorneys charge a median $2,600 for a revocable living trust, LegalTemplates’ 2026 study of 909 firms found, with the middle half of quotes falling between $2,200 and $3,050. That puts Utah at the 10th-cheapest of the 20 states compared here, coming in over the $2,475 national median for a standalone trust. A DIY platform runs $149 to $649. What that spend buys locally: Utah charges a flat $375.00 statewide to open a probate case.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does Utah tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | Utah probate filing fee | Utah probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in Utah?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in Utah: attorney vs DIY
Laid out side by side:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median attorney price in Utah | $2,600 |
| Typical range of quotes in Utah | $2,200–$3,050 |
| National median, all 50 states and DC | $2,475 |
| DIY document platform range | $149–$649 |
Attorneys who bundle the trust into a fuller package (pour-over will, financial power of attorney, healthcare documents) charge a national median of $2,700 for that package. DIY document platforms run $149 to $649 and do not vary by state; the national living trust cost guide has the full platform comparison table (LegalZoom, Trust & Will, Quicken WillMaker, FreeWill) with what each one includes.
Attorney figures: LegalTemplates, September 24, 2026.
What a living trust avoids: probate in Utah
Skip the trust and Utah probate is the fallback route, with its own court bill attached, described below. Utah charges a flat $375.00 statewide to open a probate case. Full filing-fee breakdown.
Utah publishes no percentage schedule for probate compensation; the personal representative and the attorney are each paid what the court finds reasonable (Utah Code §75-3-718), so the bill tracks hours worked rather than the size of the estate. The second number is the small-estate threshold, at or under which an estate skips most of probate: $100,000 of personal property, by an affidavit presented to banks rather than filed with the court. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below; it is where most published guidance goes wrong. Full Utah probate cost guide, and the small-estate shortcut that can bypass probate even with no trust.
Utah living trust: signing, notary and the deed
Each line is a short extract quoted from, or a plain summary of, the statute cited; the section has the exceptions.
- Creating the trust. Utah Code § 75-7-402: “…the settlor indicates an intention to create the trust…”
- Writing rule. Utah Code § 25-5-1 (summarized, not quoted): a trust or power concerning land can be created only by operation of law or by a deed or other written conveyance signed by the party creating it, or by that party’s agent authorized in writing.
- Deed and notary. Utah Code § 57-3-101: “…signed and certified by the officer taking the acknowledgment, proof, or jurat…”
- Certification of trust. Utah Code § 75-7-1013: “…the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust…”
For what the court side costs if a trust is not used, see Utah probate cost.
Funding the trust in Utah
The paperwork does not end at signing. Real estate specifically has to be re-deeded into the trust’s name to actually be covered by it. Funding the trust in Utah costs nothing on the transfer-tax side, because the state has never enacted a real estate transfer tax at the state or local level – a point the Legislature itself underscored in a 2023-24 proposal to lock that policy permanently into the Utah Constitution. Property tax is unaffected too: Utah Code §59-2-303 requires the county assessor to assess property to whoever owns it as of January 1 each year and update values annually from current market data, so there is no California-style change-in-ownership reassessment to trigger. The only cost is recording the new deed with the county recorder, generally a flat per-page fee.
Is a living trust worth it in Utah?
The math is the $2,600 setup cost versus the probate bill above; the part no dollar figure captures is privacy and a quicker transfer for heirs. The full worth-it analysis for Utah goes through the numbers for your own real estate and situation.
Sources
- LegalTemplates, 2026 Estate Planning Costs in the US (909 firms, read September 24, 2026).
- Utah probate filing fee, Utah probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source