Will vs trust: pay now, or your family pays later.

Every figure sourced and dated. Updated 2026-08-31.

Every will-vs-trust page lists features. The honest comparison is two numbers: what you pay now, and what your family pays later. Now: an attorney-drafted will averages $733 (909-firm study, 2026); an attorney-drafted revocable living trust runs $2,000 to $3,500, with online services at $199 to $1,500.

The later number is the one people miss

A will does not avoid probate; it goes through it. Probate for most estates takes 12 to 18 months and typically costs $15,000 to $35,000 on a $500,000 estate. Assets titled in a living trust generally pass outside that process. That is the actual trade: a trust costs roughly $1,300 to $2,800 more up front than an average will, against a probate process measured in months and five figures.

When the cheap answer is still right

Small estates, simple beneficiary situations, and states with streamlined small-estate procedures can make a will alone perfectly rational. The point of this page is not that either answer is right; it is that the decision has real numbers, and now you have them.