Difference Between a $3,000 and $699 Living Trust

Hey everybody. A question I get a lot is, how much does a living trust cost? So I want to write a quick blog about the difference between a $3,000 living trust and a $699 living trust that you can obtain through the National Association of Family Services from my own experience. 

First of all, I’ve been in the financial services industry now for 33 years. I’ve been around this topic a lot. I do a ton of presentations for the National Association of Family Services. I’m also a client. I did my first trust without the National Association of Family Services back in 1993. I felt I needed one. I had a family. I owned a home, etc. I saw the importance of it.

I went down to a local attorney’s office that was referred to me by another financial colleague and went through the process there. I sat down for an interview and really didn’t get that much out of it. They wanted to know about my assets, what my net worth was, etc. and at the completion of that conversation, I had to put out a $1500 retainer for that estate planning attorney to start the work on my trust. About three weeks later, I get a phone call from the office manager that I could come down and pick up my trust that they would notarize there. And, to also please bring the final payment of 1500 bucks. So I went down and I did that, got my trust, and I went home.

The living trust was in a beautiful leather-bound binder, which I don’t really know where that binder is anymore, but as I started flipping through the documents, I really didn’t understand what it was that I had. There was no explanation of it through this process. I only met with the attorney one time. I believe the paralegal was the one that drafted the document. The attorney probably reviewed it, put his signature on it to approve it and the office manager did the notary, and there you go. Well, along about seven years ago, I needed to update my trust and I reached out to that same law firm to discuss the process. They wanted another $1500 to do what was called a restatement on that living trust and I just didn’t see really, the purpose or the value of spending another $1500 for that trust.

So, I started looking at alternatives, and I saw an ad in the local newspaper about a revocable living trust for $699. Well, what’s this? First, I thought it was a gimmick. But, I thought I at least owe it to myself to go check it out. I went down to the seminar, put on by the National Association of Family Services, and you know what happened? I actually got a full education on how a living trust works, and why it would be beneficial for a family to have one. I went through the process, and from A to Z, it was handled in a very seamless manner. It was put together by an estate planning attorney. I never had to leave my house. I had a dialog with the attorney about the specificity that I wanted in my trust, and along the way, when the document was delivered and notarized in my home, I recognized that I understood everything about that living trust.

The only difference from what I can see as I was flipping through the pages of my $699 trust that I obtained through the National Association of Family Services, and my $3000 trust that I had done from that law firm back in 1993, was the binder. I didn’t have a leather-bound binder (kind of fake leather anyway), or the box for the binder to fit into to protect the binder. I had a black plastic one, but I have all the same documents and education along the way.

I just wanted to share that with all of you. If you’re out looking for an alternative to the high-priced attorneys and the living trusts that are being drafted, the National Association of Family Services would be a great choice for you to check out. We have an online presentation, where in just 45 minutes I provide a great overview of the probate process, what our families are up against, how easy it is to understand a living trust, and best of all, how to obtain a living trust at a low price of $699 (no hidden fees). Please