Living Trusts

A revocable living trust holds your assets so they pass outside probate to your beneficiaries; you remain trustee while alive. For estates over ~$500K–$1M, a blended family, or anyone wanting to avoid the (state-dependent, sometimes brutal) probate process, a trust is usually the right answer. For the will half see Wills & Online Will Services; for non-trust probate avoidance see Probate Avoidance; for inheritance / tax see Inheritance & Tax Planning; broader index at Estate, Will & End-of-Life Planning.

Online trust services (DIY)

• ★ Trust & Will — paid (~$600); the 2026 online-trust default; clean UX, optional attorney review, state-aware. Best fit: middle-class family, normal asset mix, no special complications.
• LegalZoom — paid; comparable scope; older incumbent.
• Quicken WillMaker — paid (~$110/yr); desktop; includes a living-trust module; comprehensive but UI is dated.
• Rocket Lawyer — paid subscription; trust included in higher tiers.

Self-prep (book + form)

• ★ Nolo "Make Your Own Living Trust" — paid (~$35 book); battle-tested step-by-step; includes downloadable forms. The DIY answer for a careful, methodical adult.
• Suze Orman's Will & Trust Kit — paid; commercial bundle; controversial in the legal community but widely used.

Attorney-drafted (the right answer above ~$1M)

• ★ Local estate-planning attorney — paid ($2–5K full estate package: will + revocable living trust + POA + healthcare directive + HIPAA release). Worth it for: any net worth above ~$1M, blended families, business interests, multi-state property, special-needs beneficiaries, anticipation of contest. The fee is a tiny fraction of the assets at stake.
• AAEPA (American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys) — referral network.
• Local Bar Association referral — free referral to vetted attorneys.

Funding the trust (the part most people miss)

A trust only avoids probate for assets actually titled to it. Creating the trust is half the job; funding it is the other half:

• Real estate: re-record the deed in the trust's name.
• Brokerage / bank: re-title to the trust (or use TOD/POD; see Probate Avoidance).
• Vehicles, valuable personal property: state-dependent; some states use TOD car titles instead.
• Retirement accounts (401k, IRA): do not retitle — use beneficiary designations directly. See Beneficiary Designations.

A "pour-over will" sweeps anything you forgot into the trust at death — but anything caught by the pour-over still goes through probate first. Fund the trust properly.

Revocable vs irrevocable

• Revocable living trust — you can change / revoke; counts as your asset for taxes / Medicaid; probate avoidance + privacy + incapacity planning are the wins.
• Irrevocable trust — gives up control; specific use cases (special-needs, asset protection, estate-tax reduction for ultra-high-net-worth, Medicaid planning under the 5-year look-back). Attorney territory.

License / pricing

• Trust & Will, LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer: paid.
• Quicken WillMaker: paid (~$110/yr or perpetual).
• Nolo book: paid one-time (~$35).
• Attorney: paid ($2–5K typical full-estate package).

Pick this if…

• Middle-class family, simple assets, want a trust, will DIY: Nolo book or Quicken WillMaker.
• Same family, want polish + optional attorney review: Trust & Will.
• >$1M, blended family, business, special needs, multi-state: local estate attorney. Don't DIY.
• Already have a trust: check that it's actually funded — pull each major asset's title and confirm.
• Just want to avoid probate without a trust: see Probate Avoidance (TOD/POD, joint tenancy, beneficiary designations).