Guides › Estate, Probate & Inheritance › Living Trust Cost
Updated September 24, 2026. Quick answer: LegalTemplates surveyed 909 law firms in 2026 and found New Jersey attorneys charging a median $2,950 for a revocable living trust, $2,400 to $3,500 for the middle half. That puts New Jersey at the 19th-cheapest of the 21 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: New Jersey charges $100.00 statewide to probate a will and $125.00 for letters of administration when there is no will.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does New Jersey tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | New Jersey probate filing fee | New Jersey probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in New Jersey?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in New Jersey: attorney vs DIY
For reference against the national figures and the DIY floor:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| New Jersey trust-drafting median | $2,950 |
| New Jersey trust-drafting middle 50% | $2,400–$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 New Jersey
Here is the cost side of the ledger a trust is meant to avoid in New Jersey. New Jersey charges $100.00 statewide to probate a will and $125.00 for letters of administration when there is no will. Full filing-fee breakdown.
New Jersey fixes one half of the bill by statute and leaves the other to the court: the executor’s corpus commission is statutory; 5% of the first $200,000, 3.5% on the excess to $1,000,000 and 2% above that (N.J.S.A. 3B:18-14), plus a 6% income commission (N.J.S.A. 3B:18-13); while attorney fees are reasonable and court-reviewable. The second number is the small-estate threshold, at or under which an estate skips most of probate: $50,000 for a surviving spouse or partner, or $20,000 for other heirs with consent. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below; it is where most published guidance goes wrong. Full New Jersey probate cost guide, and the threshold below which probate is skipped by affidavit, trust or not.
New Jersey 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. N.J.S.A. 3B:31-19: “…the settlor indicates an intention to create the trust…”
- Writing rule. N.J.S.A. 3B:31-18 (summarized, not quoted): a trust may be created by a transfer of property under a written instrument to a trustee, by a written declaration by the owner that the owner holds identifiable property as trustee, or by a written exercise of a power of appointment in favor of a trustee.
- Deed and notary. N.J.S.A. 46:14-2.1: “…the maker of the instrument shall appear before an officer…”
- Certification of trust. N.J.S.A. 3B:31-81: “…the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust…”
For what the court side costs if a trust is not used, see New Jersey probate cost.
Funding the trust in New Jersey
Owning a trust and funding it are two different jobs. For a house, funding means recording a new deed. New Jersey charges a Realty Transfer Fee on most deeds, but a transfer into your own revocable trust does not trigger it because you keep full beneficial ownership: the Division of Taxation’s guidance confirms a trust held for someone other than the grantor is taxable, the flip side of the exemption at N.J.A.C. 18:16-5.11 for a trust held solely for the grantor’s own benefit (NJ Division of Taxation RTF FAQs). Assessors value real estate at true market value each October 1 under N.J.S.A. 54:4-1 et seq., not on a sale-triggered basis, so funding the trust will not raise the assessment. The deed still needs the county clerk’s standard recording fee.
Is a living trust worth it in New Jersey?
The trade comes down to the $2,950 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 New Jersey 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).
- New Jersey probate filing fee, New Jersey probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source