Guides › Estate, Probate & Inheritance › Living Trust Cost
Updated September 23, 2026. Quick answer: An attorney-drafted revocable living trust in New York has a median price of $2,750, with the middle half of firms charging $2,300–$3,300 (LegalTemplates’ 2026 study of 909 law firms). That is the second-highest median of the ten states compared here, trailing only Georgia, and well above the $2,475 national figure. A DIY platform runs $149 to $649. What that spend buys locally: New York’s Surrogate’s Court fee scales with estate value, from $45 for estates under $10,000 up to $1,250 for estates of $500,000 or more; a $250,000 estate costs $625.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does New York tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | New York probate filing fee | New York probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in New York?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in New York: attorney vs DIY
The numbers at a glance:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| New York attorney-drafted trust, median | $2,750 |
| New York attorney-drafted trust, middle 50% | $2,300–$3,300 |
| 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 23, 2026.
What a living trust avoids: probate in New York
A living trust’s whole point is dodging what comes next: probate. New York would run the estate through the court process below, at the court’s own price, unless the assets are already titled in the trust’s name. New York’s Surrogate’s Court fee scales with estate value, from $45 for estates under $10,000 up to $1,250 for estates of $500,000 or more; a $250,000 estate costs $625. Full filing-fee breakdown.
New York fixes the executor’s commission by statute: 5% of the first $100,000, 4% of the next $200,000, 3% of the next $700,000 and less above that (SCPA §2307), while attorney fees are reasonable and subject to Surrogate’s Court oversight. Full New York probate cost guide, including the small-estate threshold that can skip probate without a trust at all.
Funding the trust in New York
A signed trust document is not the finish line: assets still have to be retitled into the trust’s name, and for a house that means a new deed. New York’s real property transfer tax (Tax Law §1405) exempts a deed into your own trust as a conveyance without a change in beneficial ownership, so funding it costs no state transfer tax. The deed still has to be recorded with the county clerk, for example $45 plus $5 a page in Ulster County; fees vary by county, and New York’s real property tax forms page is where the transfer-tax exemption paperwork (Form TP-584) lives.
Is a living trust worth it in New York?
Weigh the $2,750 against the probate cost above, plus what a dollar figure leaves out: privacy (a trust stays off the public court record) and a faster handoff to whoever inherits. The full worth-it analysis for New York works through the trade in detail for what real estate you own.
Sources
- LegalTemplates, 2026 Estate Planning Costs in the US (909 firms, read September 23, 2026).
- New York probate filing fee, New York probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source.