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Updated September 24, 2026. Quick answer: Maryland attorneys charge a median $2,650 for a revocable living trust, LegalTemplates’ 2026 study of 909 firms found, with the middle half of quotes falling between $2,200 and $3,100. That puts Maryland at the 11th-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: Maryland’s tiered probate fee is $0 for estates under $50,000 and $200.00 for estates between $100,000 and $500,000, the range most homeowning estates fall into.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does Maryland tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | Maryland probate filing fee | Maryland probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in Maryland?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in Maryland: attorney vs DIY
Laid out side by side:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median attorney price in Maryland | $2,650 |
| Typical range of quotes in Maryland | $2,200–$3,100 |
| 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 Maryland
Skip the trust and Maryland probate is the fallback route, with its own court bill attached, described below. Maryland’s tiered probate fee is $0 for estates under $50,000 and $200.00 for estates between $100,000 and $500,000, the range most homeowning estates fall into. Full filing-fee breakdown.
Maryland fixes one half of the bill by statute and leaves the other to the court: the personal representative’s fee is reasonable but capped by statute at 9% of the first $20,000 of the estate plus 3.6% of the excess (Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §7-601), and attorney fees are reasonable and commonly measured against the same cap. The second number is the small-estate threshold, at or under which an estate skips most of probate: $50,000, or $100,000 where the surviving spouse is the sole heir or legatee. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below; it is where most published guidance goes wrong. Full Maryland probate cost guide, and the small-estate shortcut that can bypass probate even with no trust.
Funding the trust in Maryland
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 Maryland avoids the state’s deed-based taxes: Estates and Trusts §14.5-1001 bars any recordation tax, transfer tax, or other State or local excise tax on a transfer of real property to a trust without consideration, and Tax-Property §12-108(ee) writes that same recordation-tax exemption into the tax code. Your Homestead Tax Credit survives the move too, because Tax-Property §9-105 counts a settlor, grantor, or beneficiary who lives in the home rent-free as the qualifying owner once title sits in the trust’s name. The new deed still has to be recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court for a modest per-page fee.
Is a living trust worth it in Maryland?
The math is the $2,650 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 Maryland 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).
- Maryland probate filing fee, Maryland probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source