Estate planning costs in Utah vary depending on what you need, who prepares the plan, and how much implementation is included.
At Legacy Peak Estate Planning Law, our standard 2026 flat fees are:
Will-Based Estate Plan
One person: $1,000
Two people: $1,500
Trust-Based Estate Plan
One person: Starting at $1,500
Two people: Starting at $2,000
Our trust-based plans include the core estate-planning documents and preparation and recording of one Utah property deed when applicable.
Online and do-it-yourself plans can cost substantially less. For some people, they are a reasonable option. But price alone does not tell you whether two estate plans provide the same service.
The better question is:
What am I getting for the price, and who is responsible for making sure the plan actually works?
The Short Answer: What Does an Estate Plan Cost in Utah?
At our firm, a complete will-based estate plan starts at $1,000 for one person or $1,500 for two people.
A complete trust-based estate plan starts at $1,500 for one person or $2,000 for two people.
Other Utah attorneys charge different amounts depending on the firm, complexity of the plan, and what their fee includes. For example, a different Utah firm currently publishes trust packages at $1,495 for an individual and $1,995 for a couple, while another Utah firm publishes complete plans starting at $2,500 and $3,500. It’s not uncommon for a downtown Salt Lake City law firm to charge $5,000-$10,000 for complete estate plans.
A 2026 pricing study of 909 law firms reported a $1,000 median for will packages and a $2,700 median for revocable-trust packages. See Study.
Online estate-planning services usually cost considerably less than hiring an attorney. For example, one online do-it-yourself estate plan website currently starts at $199 for a will plan and $499 for a trust plan; another website lists attorney-supported will and trust options beginning around $149 and $549, depending on the package. But the client may be responsible for more of the planning, customization, and implementation.
That distinction matters most with a living trust.
A perfectly good trust document may do little to avoid probate for your home if the home is never actually transferred into the trust.
How Much Does a Will Cost in Utah?
Our flat fee for a standalone Last Will and Testament is $600.
A will can:
direct who receives probate property;
nominate a personal representative;
nominate guardians for minor children; and
create continuing trusts for children or other beneficiaries.
A standalone will, however, is not necessarily a complete estate plan.
Most clients should also consider incapacity planning through a financial power of attorney and advance health care directive.
For that reason, we offer complete will-based packages in addition to individual documents.
How Much Does a Will-Based Estate Plan Cost?
Our will-based estate planning package costs:
One person: $1,000
Two people: $1,500
The plan includes the core documents needed for a coordinated will-based estate plan, including the will, financial power of attorney, health care directive, and supporting documents appropriate to the plan.
A will-based plan does not include a revocable living trust or trust-funding deed.
For someone with straightforward wishes who does not place a high priority on avoiding probate, a will-based plan may be the most cost-effective choice.
How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Utah?
Our flat fee for a standalone revocable living trust is $1,250.
But there is an important difference between creating a trust document and completing a trust-based estate plan.
A living trust works best when it is coordinated with:
a pour-over will;
financial and health care documents;
beneficiary designations;
ownership of real estate and other assets; and
trust funding.
That last item is particularly important.
A trust agreement does not automatically transfer your house into the trust.
If your home is supposed to avoid probate through the trust, a deed generally must be prepared, properly signed, and recorded with the county recorder.
Learn About Revocable Living Trusts in Utah
How Much Does a Will and Trust Cost Together in Utah?
Our complete trust-based estate planning package starts at:
One person: $1,500
Two people: $2,000
The package includes:
a revocable living trust;
a Last Will and Testament;
a financial power of attorney;
an advance health care directive;
a Certificate of Trust;
supporting estate-planning documents; and
preparation and recording of one Utah property deed when applicable.
The deed component is important because a trust designed to avoid probate for a home generally needs to become part of the property's actual title.
Simply signing the trust does not accomplish that.
Why Is a Trust-Based Plan More Expensive Than a Will-Based Plan?
A trust-based plan requires more drafting and more implementation.
The trust must address issues such as:
who manages property during your lifetime;
what happens if you become incapacitated;
who serves after your death;
how your beneficiaries receive property;
whether inheritances remain in trust; and
what authority successor trustees have.
The assets must then be coordinated with the plan.
For real estate, that usually involves preparing and recording a deed.
Financial accounts, business interests, life insurance, and beneficiary designations may require separate review or action.
The additional cost therefore reflects more than the number of pages in the trust agreement.
How Does Our Pricing Compare With Other Utah Estate Planning Attorneys?
There is no standard fee that Utah estate-planning attorneys must charge.
Published attorney fees vary considerably.
Some firms advertise estate-planning packages in a range similar to ours. Others charge substantially more, particularly for customized trust planning.
The harder comparison is determining what each price actually includes.
For example, a quoted “living trust package” might or might not include:
the pour-over will;
financial power of attorney;
health care directive;
Certificate of Trust;
customized inheritance provisions;
attorney meetings and advice;
revisions;
deed preparation;
county recording;
trust-funding guidance; or
help coordinating beneficiary designations.
Two firms can therefore quote very different fees without offering the same service.
Our approach is to publish our standard prices and explain what is included before you hire us.
We believe our fees represent a strong value for attorney-prepared estate planning, but we do not recommend choosing an estate plan based on price alone.
How Much Does Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning Cost?
Online and do-it-yourself estate-planning services generally cost much less than hiring an attorney.
That can make them attractive, particularly if your wishes are simple.
The documents themselves may be perfectly adequate for some people.
The more important question is how much responsibility you are comfortable taking on yourself.
With a do-it-yourself plan, you will typically need to determine:
whether you need a will or trust;
what provisions and options to select;
how beneficiaries should inherit;
how incapacity provisions should work;
how beneficiary designations should be coordinated;
which assets should be transferred into the trust; and
how those transfers should actually be completed.
For someone comfortable handling those decisions, the savings can be meaningful.
The Biggest DIY Trust Issue: Funding
Trust funding is one of the biggest differences between preparing a trust document and completing a trust-based estate plan.
Suppose you create an online revocable living trust because your primary goal is to avoid probate for your home.
You sign the trust.
You store it with your important papers.
But the deed to your home still lists you individually as the owner.
Unless another nonprobate transfer arrangement applies, your home may still require probate because it was never transferred into the trust.
The problem is not necessarily that the trust document was defective.
The problem is that the trust was never funded with the property it was supposed to control.
Does an Online Trust Service Transfer Your House Into the Trust?
Many online estate-planning services primarily provide documents. Deed preparation and recording may not be included, or the client may be responsible for completing some or all of that work separately.
That means you should ask exactly what is included before comparing the online price with an attorney's trust package.
If the deed is not included, you may need to:
obtain the current recorded deed;
confirm the property's legal description and current ownership;
determine the appropriate form of conveyance;
prepare the new deed;
make sure the deed identifies the trust ownership correctly;
properly execute and notarize the deed;
submit it to the correct county recorder;
pay any applicable recording fee; and
verify that the deed was actually recorded.
For someone familiar with real-estate documents, that may be manageable.
For someone who is not, the cost and time of completing the funding work should be considered when comparing estate-planning prices.
Learn How to Transfer Property Into a Trust in Utah
What If You Are Comfortable Preparing and Recording Your Own Deed?
Then a do-it-yourself trust may become considerably more attractive.
There is nothing inherently wrong with doing some of the implementation yourself if you understand the process.
If your wishes are straightforward, you are comfortable selecting the appropriate documents, and you know how to properly transfer your assets, paying an attorney may provide less additional value to you.
That is especially true if you either:
do not own real estate; or
are comfortable preparing and recording the appropriate deed yourself.
For that person, an online estate-planning service may be a good economic choice.
How Much Customization Do Online Estate Plans Provide?
This varies by provider.
Most online services allow you to make the basic estate-planning decisions, such as:
who inherits;
who serves as personal representative or trustee;
who serves as guardian;
who acts under a financial power of attorney; and
who makes health care decisions.
That may be enough for a straightforward family with straightforward wishes.
Customization becomes more important when you want something beyond the standard distribution pattern.
Examples include:
a blended family;
children from a prior relationship;
unequal inheritances;
lifetime trusts;
staged distributions;
special-needs beneficiaries;
creditor or divorce protection for beneficiaries;
complicated trustee arrangements;
business interests;
unusual real-estate ownership; or
detailed control over how an inheritance is managed.
Online platforms differ significantly in how much flexibility they provide for those circumstances.
Attorney-prepared planning allows the documents to be drafted around the client's wishes rather than limiting the client to the options available in a questionnaire.
When a DIY Estate Plan May Be a Good Option
I do not think an estate-planning attorney needs to tell every person that DIY planning is a bad idea.
It can be a reasonable option when:
your wishes are straightforward;
your family situation is uncomplicated;
you do not need unusual inheritance provisions;
you understand the documents you are creating;
you are comfortable coordinating beneficiary designations;
you do not own real estate; or
you are comfortable preparing, signing, and recording the necessary property transfers yourself.
For someone in that position, paying an attorney thousands of dollars may not be necessary to accomplish relatively simple objectives.
The important point is to understand what work remains after the online documents are generated.
When Hiring an Estate Planning Attorney May Be Worth the Additional Cost
An attorney becomes more valuable as either the planning or implementation becomes more complicated.
Consider attorney-assisted planning if:
you are uncertain whether you need a will or trust;
you own real estate and want help transferring it;
you own property in multiple states;
you have a blended family;
you want customized trusts for children;
you have a beneficiary with special needs;
you want inheritance protection from creditors or divorce;
you own a business;
you have complicated beneficiary designations;
you have significant tax or asset-protection concerns; or
you simply do not want to be responsible for figuring out how all the pieces fit together.
In those situations, the additional fee is paying for legal analysis and implementation, not merely more polished forms.
What Are You Actually Paying an Estate Planning Attorney For?
Estate-planning documents themselves are only part of the service.
Attorney-assisted estate planning can include four separate functions.
1. Planning
The attorney helps determine which structure fits your situation.
Should you use a will or trust?
Should a child's inheritance be distributed outright or remain in trust?
Should the same person serve as guardian and trustee?
Should a beneficiary designation name a person or a trust?
Those decisions come before drafting.
2. Customization
The attorney can draft provisions around your actual objectives rather than requiring your wishes to fit within predetermined options.
3. Coordination
The documents must work together.
Your trust, will, beneficiary designations, property ownership, financial power of attorney, and health care directive should not contradict one another.
4. Implementation
The plan must actually be put into effect.
For a trust, that includes identifying which assets should be transferred or otherwise coordinated with the trust.
For our trust-based plans, we prepare and record one Utah property deed when applicable.
That implementation component is one of the most important distinctions between a completed estate plan and a folder of signed documents.
Is the Extra Cost of a Trust Worth It?
Sometimes. Not always.
A revocable living trust may be particularly useful if you:
own real estate;
own property in more than one state;
want to reduce the likelihood of probate;
want a successor trustee to manage trust assets during incapacity;
want more privacy in estate administration; or
want centralized long-term management for beneficiaries.
But a trust is not automatically better because it costs more.
If a will-based plan accomplishes your objectives, paying for a trust may provide little additional value.
Our goal is to recommend the simplest structure that accomplishes what you actually want.
Compare a Will vs. Trust in Utah
How Much Do Individual Estate Planning Documents Cost?
Our current standalone flat fees are:
Last Will and Testament — $600
Revocable Living Trust — $1,250
Financial Power of Attorney — $300
Health Care Directive — $300
Utah Property Deed Preparation and Recording — $350
Standalone documents can be useful when you know exactly what you need.
If you already have an estate plan, we also review whether changing one document could create inconsistencies elsewhere before recommending a standalone replacement.
Why Comparing Only the Trust Document Price Can Be Misleading
Imagine two options:
Option A: An online trust costs several hundred dollars.
Option B: An attorney-prepared trust plan costs $2,000.
At first glance, Option A appears dramatically cheaper.
But suppose the attorney package also includes:
the will;
financial powers of attorney;
health care directives;
the Certificate of Trust;
customized inheritance planning;
attorney consultation;
review and revisions;
deed preparation;
deed recording; and
trust-funding guidance.
That does not mean the attorney package is automatically the better choice.
It means the two prices are not necessarily measuring the same thing.
The right comparison is between the complete services you actually need, including any work you will have to perform or pay for separately.
What Should You Ask Before Comparing Estate Planning Prices?
Ask:
What documents are included?
Will I work directly with an attorney?
Can the documents be customized beyond standard options?
Are revisions included?
Is deed preparation included?
Will the deed actually be recorded for me?
Will someone explain which assets should and should not be transferred to the trust?
Will someone review my beneficiary designations?
Who is responsible for trust funding?
What additional work will I have to complete myself?
Those questions will usually tell you more than the advertised price.
Is a Trust Necessary Just Because You Own a Home?
No.
Owning a home is a good reason to consider a trust because real estate is one of the assets most likely to make probate necessary.
But homeownership does not automatically mean a trust is the right choice.
Some homeowners prefer a less expensive will-based estate plan and accept the possibility of probate later.
Others decide that avoiding probate and providing continuity of ownership justify the additional cost and work of a trust.
Neither choice is inherently wrong.
Does Estate Planning Save Money on Taxes?
For most Utah families, estate planning is primarily about control, incapacity, probate, and beneficiary protection, not federal estate taxes.
Most estates are well below the federal estate-tax exemption.
Clients with unusually large estates, substantial lifetime gifts, charitable objectives, or other tax issues may require specialized tax planning.
A standard revocable living trust does not create an estate-tax benefit merely because the assets are held in trust.
Is Estate Planning Worth the Cost?
The answer depends on what problem the plan is solving.
Estate planning can determine:
who handles your finances if you become incapacitated;
who makes medical decisions;
who raises minor children;
who administers your estate;
who receives your property;
whether a beneficiary receives an inheritance outright or in trust;
whether real estate must pass through probate; and
who has authority to manage property after your death.
For someone with simple wishes and the ability to implement a DIY plan correctly, the added cost of an attorney may not be necessary.
For someone with more complicated circumstances—or someone who values having an attorney design, customize, and implement the plan—the additional cost may be well worth it.
How to Keep Estate Planning Costs Reasonable
The best way to control cost is to choose the simplest plan that actually accomplishes your objectives.
Do not buy a revocable trust simply because a lawyer tells every client they need one.
Do not choose a DIY plan solely because it is inexpensive without considering the work you will need to complete yourself.
And do not assume the most expensive attorney necessarily provides the best plan.
Compare the scope of service, the complexity of your needs, and how much responsibility you want to retain.
How Our Estate Planning Process Works
We begin with a free initial consultation.
We discuss your family, property, and planning goals and determine whether a will-based plan, trust-based plan, or more specialized structure makes sense.
We then confirm the flat fee before beginning the work.
If you proceed, you complete a short questionnaire. We prepare your documents, send drafts for review, answer your questions, and meet with you to complete the signing process.
For trust-based plans, we also prepare and record one Utah property deed when applicable and explain the additional funding steps relevant to your other assets.
Our goal is for you to leave with more than signed documents.
You should understand what the plan does and what, if anything, remains for you to complete.
Frequently Asked Questions About Estate Planning Costs in Utah
How much does a basic estate plan cost in Utah?
At Legacy Peak Estate Planning Law, a complete will-based plan costs $1,000 for one person or $1,500 for two people.
A complete trust-based plan starts at $1,500 for one person or $2,000 for two people.
How much does a will and trust cost in Utah?
Our complete trust-based estate plan starts at $1,500 for one person or $2,000 for two people.
The plan includes the revocable trust, will, financial power of attorney, health care directive, Certificate of Trust, supporting documents, and preparation and recording of one Utah property deed when applicable.
How much does a Utah living trust cost?
Our standalone revocable living trust fee is $1,250.
Our complete trust-based package starts at $1,500 for one person.
How much does a Utah will cost?
Our standalone Last Will and Testament fee is $600.
Is an online estate plan cheaper than hiring an attorney?
Yes.
Online and do-it-yourself plans are generally much less expensive than attorney-prepared estate planning.
The tradeoff is that you may be responsible for more of the planning, customization, coordination, and implementation yourself.
Is a DIY living trust worth it?
It can be.
If your wishes are straightforward, you are comfortable making the planning decisions yourself, and you can properly fund the trust, an online service can be an economical option.
If you own real estate, make sure you understand whether the service prepares and records the deed or whether that work is your responsibility.
What happens if I create a trust but never transfer my house into it?
The trust generally cannot avoid probate for the home merely because the trust document exists.
If the home remains individually owned when you die and no other effective nonprobate transfer arrangement applies, probate may still be required.
That is why funding is a critical part of trust planning.
Is estate planning more expensive for a married couple?
Usually.
Two people typically need separate wills, financial powers of attorney, health care directives, and individualized planning.
Our will-based plan costs $1,500 for two people compared with $1,000 for one.
Our trust-based plan starts at $2,000 for two people compared with $1,500 for one.
Is the initial consultation free?
Yes.
Our initial estate-planning consultation is free, and there is no obligation to hire us.
Will I know the cost before I hire you?
Yes.
We explain the recommended plan and flat fee before beginning the work.
If your situation requires services outside the agreed scope, we discuss those separately before proceeding.
Compare the Entire Plan, Not Just the Price
A do-it-yourself estate plan can be a good value for the right person.
So can attorney-prepared estate planning.
The difference depends on how complicated your wishes are, how much customization you need, whether you own real estate, and how much of the implementation you want to handle yourself.
At Legacy Peak Estate Planning Law, we focus on transparent pricing, customized attorney-prepared documents, and helping clients actually implement the plan.
Will-Based Estate Plan: $1,000 for one person / $1,500 for two people
Trust-Based Estate Plan: Starting at $1,500 for one person / $2,000 for two people