The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Mississippi?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 11, 2026 8 min read

Quick answer

An attorney-drafted living trust in Mississippi typically costs $1,500 to $3,500, while reputable online trust services run about $200 to $700. Mississippi does not set probate fees by statute, so the math is different from high-fee states: a trust operates here mainly to keep assets out of the state's fully court-supervised chancery probate, which on a typical $300,000 to $400,000 estate can run several thousand dollars and stretch past a year.

⚠️ Educational information only — not legal, tax, or financial advice.

The figures on this page are general estimates. Laws, fees, thresholds, and prices differ by state and change often, and your own situation may change the result. Before you act, confirm the current numbers and rules for Mississippi with a licensed professional — an attorney, tax advisor, or licensed agent as appropriate. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship.

What a living trust actually costs in Mississippi

There are three ways to set up a revocable living trust in Mississippi, and they cost very different amounts:

How it’s prepared Typical cost in Mississippi What’s typically included
Attorney-drafted $1,500 to $3,500 Trust, pour-over will, powers of attorney, deed preparation and funding assistance
Online service $200 to $700 Trust document and standard supporting forms; deed preparation usually excluded
DIY template $0 to ~$100 Document only; drafting and funding are the purchaser’s responsibility

Illustrative Mississippi pricing as of 2026 — re-verify with current quotes. Most attorney quotes are for a full package (the trust, a pour-over will, financial and healthcare powers of attorney, and help retitling assets), not the trust document alone.

An attorney-drafted living trust in Mississippi typically runs $1,500 to $3,500. Online trust services advertise $200 to $700, and do-it-yourself templates are nearly free. A trust holds assets outside probate only to the extent those assets are retitled into it, and deed preparation — the step that retitles real estate — is excluded from most online and DIY pricing.

What drives the price within Mississippi

  • Single person vs. married couple. A joint trust for a couple costs more than a single-person trust, but usually less than two separate trusts.
  • Real estate and funding. Every property that goes into the trust needs a new deed drafted and recorded. More properties — or property in more than one state — means more work and a higher fee.
  • Complexity. A blended family, a special-needs beneficiary, a business interest, or potential estate-tax exposure all push you toward the upper end (or above it).
  • Package vs. document. The headline price usually includes the supporting documents and funding help. A bare trust document is cheaper but leaves the hardest part — funding — to you.

What probate costs in Mississippi by comparison

A funded living trust holds assets outside probate. The figure it is measured against is therefore the cost of Mississippi probate itself.

Mississippi probate is not fee-gouging, but it is slow and court-heavy: full administration means an inventory, a published notice to creditors, a 90-day claim window under Miss. Code §91-7-151, and court approval of accountings and fees. Attorney and executor fees are whatever the chancery court finds reasonable under Miss. Code §91-7-281 and §91-7-299.

On a typical $300,000 to $400,000 Mississippi estate, combined attorney fees, executor compensation, court filing, and publication costs commonly total roughly $8,000 to $15,000 — often in the 3% to 7% range — before counting the year or more it can take to close.

For the full breakdown, see How Much Does Probate Cost in Mississippi?.

How Mississippi probate cost compares to trust cost

Mississippi provides a $75,000 small-estate affidavit and a transfer-on-death deed, so modest estates can pass outside probate at no cost. Above the affidavit threshold, Mississippi probate is supervised through chancery court, which lengthens the proceeding.

A living trust operates on two things: assets retitled into it pass outside probate, and the trust document governs management if the grantor becomes incapacitated. Those are the documented functions; the figures above are what each costs in Mississippi.

Mississippi-specific things to know

Mississippi adopted the Uniform Trust Code, codified as the Mississippi Uniform Trust Code at Miss. Code §91-8-101 et seq. (effective 2014), so its trust law is modern and predictable. Mississippi is a common-law (not community property) state and imposes no state estate or inheritance tax.

Funding is everything. A trust only avoids probate for assets you actually retitle into it — record a deed transferring real estate to yourself as trustee with the chancery clerk, and change the owner on bank and brokerage accounts. Mississippi has no separate real-estate transfer tax on a deed into your own trust, but recording fees still apply. An unfunded trust — one you signed but never moved your assets into — does nothing; those assets still go through probate. This is the most common and most expensive living-trust mistake in every state.

What affects the price in Mississippi

For a simple home-plus-accounts estate, a Mississippi flat-fee attorney ($1,500–$3,000) or a reputable online service ($200–$700) is plenty. Pay full custom rates for blended families, a special-needs beneficiary, a farm or business, or any out-of-state real estate.

The documented price drivers:

  • Preparation route. Online and flat-fee services occupy the lower end of the range; attorney drafting the upper end. Estate complexity is the factor attorneys cite for the difference.
  • Fee structure. Estate-planning attorneys commonly quote a flat package price rather than hourly. What the package includes varies — deed preparation and funding are the items most often excluded.
  • Bundling. The trust, pour-over will, and powers of attorney are commonly quoted together at less than the sum of their separate prices.
  • Deed work. Retitling real estate into the trust requires a recorded deed. An incorrectly prepared deed can affect a homestead exemption or trigger a property-tax reassessment, depending on state law.

What determines whether a trust applies in Mississippi

In Mississippi the operative factors are an estate above the $75,000 affidavit threshold, real estate, and the duration of supervised chancery probate. In-state homes can pass by TOD deed.

The circumstances in which a living trust has a documented effect:

  • Real estate, particularly in more than one state — property in another state otherwise requires a separate ancillary probate there.
  • Privacy — a probated will becomes a public court record; a trust does not.
  • Incapacity — a trust governs management during life; a will takes effect only at death.
  • Staged distributions — a trust can direct payment over time; a will distributes at closing.

Where an estate consists of assets that already pass by beneficiary designation or joint ownership, those assets bypass probate without a trust. For the documented differences between the two instruments, see Will vs. Trust: How They Differ.

What the record shows

Item Mississippi
Attorney-drafted living trust $1,500 – $3,500
Online trust services $200 – $700
Governing statutes Miss. Code §91-7-281 (attorney's fees in probate); Miss. Code §91-7-299 (executor commission); Miss. Code §91-8-101 et seq. (Mississippi Uniform Trust Code); Miss. Code §91-7-322 (small-estate affidavit limit)
State authority Mississippi Bar / Mississippi Judiciary chancery court self-help resources (courts.ms.gov)

A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it; an unfunded trust leaves those assets in probate. The Mississippi probate figures this is measured against are set out above with their citations. Figures reflect published 2026 pricing and should be re-verified against live quotes.

Living trust costs in other states

Compare Mississippi with living trust pricing in other states:

This page explains living trust costs and the probate they avoid in Mississippi in general terms as of 2026. It is not legal or financial advice; prices, statutes, and thresholds change and depend on your situation. Confirm current figures and rules with a licensed Mississippi attorney. Cost figures are drawn from published 2026 attorney and online-service pricing and should be re-verified with live quotes. Sources: Mississippi Bar / Mississippi Judiciary chancery court self-help resources (courts.ms.gov); Miss. Code §91-7-281 (attorney's fees in probate), Miss. Code §91-7-299 (executor commission), Miss. Code §91-8-101 et seq. (Mississippi Uniform Trust Code), Miss. Code §91-7-322 (small-estate affidavit limit).

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