Do I need a lawyer to make a living trust, and what does one cost?
You are not required to hire a lawyer to make a will or a living trust, and most people with straightforward situations can create one from attorney-approved forms. Our trust package starts at $1,495 and our will package at $695, per person. You should involve an attorney if your estate could approach the federal estate tax exclusion ($15 million per person in 2026), a beneficiary has special needs, a blended family may dispute the plan, you own property abroad, or partners need a buy-sell agreement.
Decide where your business goes.
- Will packageA last will and testament, prepared online from your answers.from $695
- Trust packageA revocable living trust with a certification of trust and a pour-over will, prepared online from your answers.from $1,495
Starting prices, per person. Couples can set up a joint trust for both of you, or two plans with $100 off the second.
- Free health care directive: Says who decides about your medical care if you cannot, and what you want.
- Free financial power of attorney: Names who can handle your money matters if you are alive but unable to act for yourself.
Boring Insurance Agency is a licensed insurance agency, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by using this service. These documents are self-help forms prepared from the information you provide. Laws vary by state, and your circumstances may require changes these forms do not make. We recommend you have an attorney licensed in your state review your documents before you sign them.
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Kevin Kelsey
Founder | Principal Agent
Founder and principal agent of Boring Insurance, CA License #6011822. He put off his own estate plan because he did not want to take the time to find a lawyer, then built the offer so owners can set up a will or living trust online and fund it with life insurance. He is a licensed agent, not an attorney, and these pages are not legal advice.
Forms or an attorney
Married or single, children, a home, a small business
- Usually fine with attorney-approved forms
- Yes
- See an attorney
- If you want a review before signing, which we recommend
Estate that could reach $15 million per person
- Usually fine with attorney-approved forms
- No
- See an attorney
- Yes, for estate tax planning
A beneficiary with special needs or on public benefits
- Usually fine with attorney-approved forms
- No
- See an attorney
- Yes, for a special needs trust
Blended family where you expect a dispute
- Usually fine with attorney-approved forms
- No
- See an attorney
- Yes
Property or a business outside the United States
- Usually fine with attorney-approved forms
- No
- See an attorney
- Yes
Partners who need a buy-sell agreement
- Usually fine with attorney-approved forms
- Your trust, yes
- See an attorney
- Yes, for the agreement itself
The detail
California prints a fill-in will in its Probate Code, the California Statutory Will, and the form itself says: "You should see a lawyer if you do not want to use this Statutory Will or if you do not understand this form."
California Probate Code section 6240 (California Statutory Will form)
The federal basic exclusion amount for estate tax is $15,000,000 for people who die in 2026, up from $13,990,000 in 2025.
If an estate goes through probate in California, the attorney’s statutory fee is 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000 and 2% of the next $800,000, so $23,000 on a $1,000,000 estate.
California Probate Code section 10810 (statutory attorney compensation in probate)
Our document platform describes its trusts, wills, powers of attorney and health care directives as using "attorney-approved language" with "legal compliance in all 50 states." The documents are self-help forms; the platform is not a law firm and gives no legal advice.
Our estate planning platform provider’s published description, checked 2026-10-05
What this means for you
- Start where you are. The reason most owners have no plan is the time it takes to find a lawyer. A plan made this month from good forms beats a perfect plan that never gets scheduled.
- Compare it with the cost of nothing. With no trust, what you leave may go through probate, where California sets the attorney’s fee by statute. On a $1,000,000 estate that is $23,000, and it is public and slow.
- Have it reviewed if you can. Laws vary by state and these are self-help documents. An hour of an attorney’s time reviewing finished documents costs far less than drafting from scratch.
- Fund it, or it does nothing. A trust controls only what you move into it: the house deed, the LLC interest, the accounts. The beneficiary designation on your life insurance can point at it too.
Go deeper on any of these
Related questions
- Is an online living trust legally valid?
A trust is valid because it is properly signed and its terms meet your state’s law, not because a lawyer typed it. Follow the signing instructions exactly, including any witness or notary steps, and keep the original somewhere safe.
- Can ChatGPT write my will?
- Is there a price for couples?
Our prices are per person: $1,495 for the trust package and $695 for the will package. Couples can set up a joint trust for both of you, or two plans with $100 off the second.
- Are the health care directive and power of attorney really free?
Yes. Both are free on our platform, and you can sign them whether or not you buy a will or trust.
- Get the free documents
- How do I know whether I need a will, a trust or an attorney?
Take the Business Owner Plan Check. It asks about ten short questions about the business, your household and what you already have, then says whether most owners in your position set up a will or a living trust, or should see an attorney first, and estimates the life insurance in ranges with the arithmetic shown.
- Take the Plan Check
Set it up, then fund it
We set up wills and revocable living trusts through our online document platform, from $695 for a will and $1,495 for a trust, and we place the life insurance that pays into them. We do not draft operating, partnership or buy-sell agreements, and we do not give legal advice; when your situation needs an attorney, the Plan Check says so.
Boring Insurance Agency is a licensed insurance agency, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by using this service. These documents are self-help forms prepared from the information you provide. Laws vary by state, and your circumstances may require changes these forms do not make. We recommend you have an attorney licensed in your state review your documents before you sign them.
Written by Kevin Kelsey, founder and principal agent, CA License #6011822. Last updated 2026-10-05. See all guides.