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Updated September 24, 2026. Quick answer: An attorney-drafted revocable living trust in Tennessee has a median price of $2,400, with the middle half of firms charging $1,950–$2,850 (LegalTemplates’ 2026 study of 909 law firms). That puts Tennessee at the 5th-cheapest of the 20 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: Tennessee’s statewide statutory base is $230.00 to open and close an estate; Knox County’s all-in total, once local litigation taxes stack on, is $389.50.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does Tennessee tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | Tennessee probate filing fee | Tennessee probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in Tennessee?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in Tennessee: attorney vs DIY
The numbers at a glance:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tennessee attorney-drafted trust, median | $2,400 |
| Tennessee attorney-drafted trust, middle 50% | $1,950–$2,850 |
| 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 Tennessee
A living trust’s whole point is dodging what comes next: probate. Tennessee 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. Tennessee’s statewide statutory base is $230.00 to open and close an estate; Knox County’s all-in total, once local litigation taxes stack on, is $389.50. Full filing-fee breakdown.
Tennessee publishes no percentage schedule for probate compensation; the personal representative and the attorney are each paid what the court finds reasonable, 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: $50,000 in personal property, under the Tennessee Small Estates Act. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below; it is where most published guidance goes wrong. Full Tennessee probate cost guide, including the small-estate threshold that can skip probate without a trust at all.
Funding the trust in Tennessee
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. Funding the trust in Tennessee costs nothing on the tax side: a deed from a homeowner into their own revocable living trust (or back out of it) is expressly excluded from the state’s realty transfer tax under Tenn. Code Ann. §67-4-409(a)(3)(F). Tennessee also has no reassessment-on-transfer regime: assessed value is set on a county-wide four-, five-, or six-year reappraisal cycle, and does not change between reappraisal years unless a physical improvement is made. The new deed still has to be recorded with the county register of deeds for a modest per-page fee.
Is a living trust worth it in Tennessee?
Weigh the $2,400 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 Tennessee 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 24, 2026).
- Tennessee probate filing fee, Tennessee probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source