Guides › Estate, Probate & Inheritance › Living Trust Cost
Updated September 24, 2026. Quick answer: LegalTemplates surveyed 909 law firms in 2026 and found Kansas attorneys charging a median $2,300 for a revocable living trust, $1,850 to $2,750 for the middle half. That puts Kansas at the 3rd-cheapest of the 21 states compared here, coming in under the $2,475 national median for a standalone trust. A DIY platform runs $149 to $649. What that spend buys locally: Kansas charges a flat $109.50 docket fee statewide to probate an estate or a will.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does Kansas tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | Kansas probate filing fee | Kansas probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in Kansas?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in Kansas: attorney vs DIY
For reference against the national figures and the DIY floor:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Kansas trust-drafting median | $2,300 |
| Kansas trust-drafting middle 50% | $1,850–$2,750 |
| 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 Kansas
Here is the cost side of the ledger a trust is meant to avoid in Kansas. Kansas charges a flat $109.50 docket fee statewide to probate an estate or a will. Full filing-fee breakdown.
Kansas publishes no percentage schedule for probate compensation; the personal representative and the attorney are each paid what the court finds reasonable (K.S.A. 59-1717), 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: $75,000, by small-estate affidavit, with no court filing required. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below; it is where most published guidance goes wrong. Full Kansas probate cost guide, and the threshold below which probate is skipped by affidavit, trust or not.
Kansas 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. K.S.A. 58a-402: “…the settlor indicates an intention to create the trust…”
- Writing rule. K.S.A. 58-2401 (summarized, not quoted): no trust concerning land, other than one that arises by implication of law, can be created unless it is in writing signed by the party creating it, or by that party’s attorney authorized in writing.
- Deed and notary. K.S.A. 58-2209: “…shall be subscribed by the party granting the same…”
- Certification of trust. K.S.A. 58a-1013: “…the trustee may furnish to the person an acknowledged certification of trust…”
For what the court side costs if a trust is not used, see Kansas probate cost.
Funding the trust in Kansas
Owning a trust and funding it are two different jobs. For a house, funding means recording a new deed. Kansas keeps this step inexpensive because there is no tax left to trigger: the former mortgage registration tax under K.S.A. §79-3102 was repealed effective 2019, and Kansas has never layered a separate deed or conveyance tax on top of it, so a deed into your own revocable trust is not taxed. Reassessment is not tied to title changes either; K.S.A. §79-1476 requires the county appraiser to update every parcel’s value annually no matter who holds title. The register of deeds still collects a statutory recording fee, for example $17 for the first page under K.S.A. §28-115.
Is a living trust worth it in Kansas?
The trade comes down to the $2,300 spent now against the court costs avoided later, plus a private, faster transfer that a will alone does not provide. The full worth-it analysis for Kansas walks through the same trade using your own property and numbers.
Sources
- LegalTemplates, 2026 Estate Planning Costs in the US (909 firms, read September 24, 2026).
- Kansas probate filing fee, Kansas probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source