How to Create a Living Trust in Pennsylvania

Estate planning gives you the opportunity to protect your assets and control how they’re handled after you pass, or if you become incapacitated. Once any outstanding debts and taxes are addressed, your remaining property can be passed on to family members, friends or charitable causes according to your wishes. One of the most common tools used in estate planning is a living trust. This legal arrangement allows you to transfer control of your assets to a trustee, who is responsible for managing and distributing them to your chosen beneficiaries. Here’s a closer look at how living trusts work, and what to consider if you’re thinking about creating one in Pennsylvania.

A financial advisor can help you put an estate plan together for your family’s needs and goals.

How to Create a Living Trust in Pennsylvania

This is how you’ll form a living trust in the Keystone State:

1. Select the type of trust that best fits your financial situation: There are individual trusts and joint trusts. In general, those who are single use a single trust, while married couples often choose a joint trust. However, married couples can also use two individual trusts.
2. Take stock of your property: Determine which property and assets you want to include in the trust. You can store things like bank accounts, real estate, stocks and bonds, retirement accounts and documents of ownership in your trust.
3. Select a trustee to manage your living trust: You can act as the trustee, or you can appoint someone else to manage the trust. If you’d rather act as the trustee, you’ll need to choose a successor trustee to manage your assets after your incapacitation or death.
4. Create the trust document: You’ll have a few options for doing this. If you’d rather create the document on your own, you can use an online program. Alternatively, you could hire a financial advisor or lawyer to help you with the process.
5. Get your trust document notarized: Sign the trust while a notary public is present.
6. Fund the trust by transferring property into it: This ensures your trustee can successfully distribute your property to your beneficiaries. A lawyer can assist you in this step.

What Is a Living Trust?

A living trust is a legal estate plan that lets an individual, or grantor, transfer property ownership to beneficiaries. The trust goes into effect as soon as the grantor creates it, and the grantor may be able to modify or revoke any of the trust’s provisions. But this depends on the type of living trust you choose.

The two types of living trusts are irrevocable living trusts and revocable living trusts. Irrevocable living trusts cannot be altered or terminated without the permission of all of the trust’s beneficiaries. Grantors can alter or terminate any provisions they make in revocable living trusts.

How Much Does It Cost to Create a Living Trust in Pennsylvania?

You’ll have a few options for creating a living trust in Pennsylvania, but the approach you choose determines how much you’ll spend. If you’d like to form the trust on your own, you can do so with an online guide or program. You’ll likely spend a few hundred dollars at most. Additionally, this method is less expensive than hiring an attorney, but DIY estate planning also presents some risks.

If you’d rather hire a lawyer, you’ll likely spend at least $1,000. This could be a less risky approach than DIY planning, but it’ll cost you more. You’ll also have to account for your attorney’s fees, and you’ll want to find a lawyer that specializes in living trusts, not just estate planning.

Living Trusts and Taxes in Pennsylvania

Living trusts usually don’t impact your taxes, but it’s useful to know about the Pennsylvania inheritance laws and estate laws. Pennsylvania doesn’t have an estate tax, but it does apply an inheritance tax. It taxes 4.5% on transfers to direct descendants, 12% on transfers to siblings and 15% to other heirs.

If your estate is worth more than $13.99 million as an individual or $27.98 million as a married couple filing jointly, you’ll be subject to a federal estate tax regardless of a living trust, as of 2025.

Should You Get a Living Trust in Pennsylvania?

Creating a living trust can offer several advantages for Pennsylvania residents, particularly when it comes to avoiding the complexities and costs of probate. Probate is a court-supervised process that validates a deceased person’s estate documents and oversees the distribution of their assets.

Because Pennsylvania does not follow the Uniform Probate Code, which helps streamline probate in other states, the process here can be more time-consuming and expensive. A living trust allows your estate to bypass probate altogether, potentially saving your heirs months of delay and significant legal fees.

Living trusts can also provide a level of control and protection that other estate planning tools may not. You can designate a trustee to manage and distribute your assets, helping to avoid the need for court-appointed conservatorship if you become incapacitated. This is particularly beneficial for individuals who want to ensure their affairs are handled privately and according to their wishes.

While a living trust can benefit both large and modest estates, it’s especially useful for individuals with substantial assets who want to avoid the administrative burden of probate. That said, Pennsylvania does offer a simplified probate process for estates valued under $50,000, so a living trust may not be necessary in every case.

Before making a decision, it’s worth comparing a living trust to other estate planning tools, such as a will, to determine the best fit for your situation.

Living Trusts vs. Wills

You can still benefit from using a will even if you form a living trust. With a will, you can account for the property you didn’t transfer into your trust. That way, you can ensure that all your assets are distributed to your beneficiaries and loved ones. A will also offers other capabilities that trusts cannot. These include:

• Naming an executor
• Leaving instructions for taxes and debt
• Establishing guardianship for minors
• Choosing managers for children’s property

This chart outlines some similarities and differences between a living trust and a will:

Living Trusts vs. Wills

Bottom Line

If you choose to create a living trust in Pennsylvania, you won’t have to deal with the probate process, but you’ll still have to reserve money and time to successfully draft and sign the legal document. Additionally, wills and trusts offer different capabilities but the two documents can in fact complement each other. With a will, you’ll be able to protect assets you didn’t include in your trust. When forming your plan, you can seek expert advice, such as from a financial advisor, or you can form the documents through online programs.

Estate Planning Tips

• Do you need help planning out your estate? SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
• You don’t have to be old or rich to create an estate plan. In fact, it’s better that you establish one sooner rather than later. You’ll want to ensure your property and assets are successfully transferred to any friends or loved ones you’ve chosen. If you don’t form a plan, you can risk having a conservatorship placed on your assets.

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