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Updated September 24, 2026. Quick answer: Expect a median $2,950 for an attorney-drafted living trust in Massachusetts, per LegalTemplates’ 2026 survey of 909 law firms; the middle half of firms quoted $2,450 to $3,500. That puts Massachusetts at the 18th-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: Massachusetts charges $375.00 to petition for formal or informal probate, plus a $15.00 surcharge, for $390.00 total statewide.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does Massachusetts tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | Massachusetts probate filing fee | Massachusetts probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in Massachusetts?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in Massachusetts: attorney vs DIY
Here is the same figure next to the national benchmark and the DIY floor:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| What Massachusetts attorneys typically charge | $2,950 |
| Middle-50% spread in Massachusetts | $2,450–$3,500 |
| 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 Massachusetts
The payoff for the $2,950 spent on a trust shows up here: Massachusetts probate, and what it would otherwise cost the estate. Massachusetts charges $375.00 to petition for formal or informal probate, plus a $15.00 surcharge, for $390.00 total statewide. Full filing-fee breakdown.
Massachusetts publishes no percentage schedule for probate compensation; the personal representative and the attorney are each paid what the court finds reasonable (MGL c.190B §3-719), 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: $25,000 of personal property, excluding one motor vehicle, by voluntary administration. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below; it is where most published guidance goes wrong. Full Massachusetts probate cost guide, including when a smaller estate qualifies for a shortcut and skips probate anyway.
Massachusetts 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. M.G.L. c. 203E, § 402: “…the settlor indicates an intention to create the trust…”
- Writing rule. M.G.L. c. 203, § 1 (summarized, not quoted): no trust concerning land, other than one that arises by implication of law, can be created or declared except by a written instrument signed by the party creating or declaring it, or by that party’s attorney.
- Deed and notary. M.G.L. c. 183, § 29: “No deed shall be recorded unless a certificate of its acknowledgment…”
- Certification of trust. M.G.L. c. 203E, § 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 Massachusetts probate cost.
Funding the trust in Massachusetts
One step trips people up after the trust is drafted: retitling a house into it requires an actual new deed, not just the trust document. Funding the trust in Massachusetts is cheap on the tax side because the deeds excise under G.L. c.64D, §1 only applies once the consideration for a conveyance exceeds one hundred dollars, and a deed from you to your own revocable trust is ordinarily made for no consideration at all, so it falls outside the tax entirely. Massachusetts also has no transfer-triggered reassessment: assessors set a fair cash valuation under G.L. c.59, §38 on the municipality’s own schedule, not because a deed happened to be recorded. The new deed still has to be recorded at the Registry of Deeds for a flat per-page fee.
Is a living trust worth it in Massachusetts?
Set the $2,950 against what probate would have cost above, then add the non-dollar side: no public court file, and a faster transfer once you are gone. The full worth-it analysis for Massachusetts breaks down the trade for your specific assets and estate size.
Sources
- LegalTemplates, 2026 Estate Planning Costs in the US (909 firms, read September 24, 2026).
- Massachusetts probate filing fee, Massachusetts probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source