Guides › Estate, Probate & Inheritance › Living Trust Cost
Updated September 24, 2026. Quick answer: Expect a median $3,100 for an attorney-drafted living trust in District of Columbia, per LegalTemplates’ 2026 survey of 909 law firms; the middle half of firms quoted $2,600 to $3,600. That is the highest median of the 20 states compared here, and it comes in over the $2,475 national median. A DIY platform runs $149 to $649. What that spend buys locally: DC’s probate fee scales from no fee under $2,500 to $320 plus 0.2% of value over $100,000 for mid-size estates; a $250,000 estate costs $620.00.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does District of Columbia tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | District of Columbia probate filing fee | District of Columbia probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in District of Columbia?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in District of Columbia: attorney vs DIY
Here is the same figure next to the national benchmark and the DIY floor:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| What District of Columbia attorneys typically charge | $3,100 |
| Middle-50% spread in District of Columbia | $2,600–$3,600 |
| 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 District of Columbia
The payoff for the $3,100 spent on a trust shows up here: District of Columbia probate, and what it would otherwise cost the estate. DC’s probate fee scales from no fee under $2,500 to $320 plus 0.2% of value over $100,000 for mid-size estates; a $250,000 estate costs $620.00. Full filing-fee breakdown.
The District of Columbia publishes no percentage schedule for probate compensation; the personal representative and the attorney are each paid what the court finds reasonable (D.C. Code §20-751), 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: $80,000, raised from $40,000 effective March 21, 2025. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below; it is where most published guidance goes wrong. Full District of Columbia probate cost guide, including when a smaller estate qualifies for a shortcut and skips probate anyway.
Funding the trust in District of Columbia
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 the District of Columbia takes extra care because DC, unusually, layers two separate taxes on a deed: transferring your home into your own revocable trust is exempt from both, since D.C. Code §47-902(12) exempts a no-consideration transfer of bare legal title into a revocable trust where the transferor remains the trust’s beneficiary from the real property transfer tax, and the matching D.C. Code §42-1102(17) exempts the identical transfer from the separate deed recordation tax. Under D.C. Code §47-820, DC reassesses real property annually regardless of ownership changes rather than running a California-style change-in-ownership trigger, so the trust transfer itself creates no special reassessment event. The new deed still has to be recorded with the Recorder of Deeds for a modest per-page fee.
Is a living trust worth it in District of Columbia?
Set the $3,100 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 District of Columbia 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).
- District of Columbia probate filing fee, District of Columbia probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source