Three price tiers, three very different products
When Redding families start pricing a living trust, the quotes come back in three clusters. At the bottom: online template services from $79 to $500, where the software fills in blanks and everything else is your problem. In the middle: registered Legal Document Assistants, who prepare complete document packages for a flat fee — ours is $1,995. At the top: Shasta County estate attorneys, who typically quote $3,000 to $8,000+ depending on the firm and the complexity.
The three tiers aren't cheaper and pricier versions of the same thing. They're different products, and knowing what's actually inside each quote matters more than the number on it.
Why attorney quotes vary so widely
Two Redding attorneys can quote $3,500 and $6,500 for the same family, and both quotes can be "correct." Attorney pricing reflects hourly rates, firm overhead, and how much counseling time the engagement includes. For a family that needs genuine legal strategy — tax planning around a large estate, a contested family situation, business succession — those hours are exactly what you're paying for and worth every dollar. For a family that needs standard documents prepared correctly, much of that fee is buying capacity you'll never use.
The question that matters more than the price
Whatever quote you're looking at, ask one question first: does it include preparing AND recording the deed that moves my home into the trust?
This single line item separates estate plans that work from estate plans that only look like they do. A trust controls only what's titled in its name. If your home is never deeded into the trust and recorded with the Shasta County Recorder, your family goes through probate for the house anyway — the exact outcome you paid to avoid. Cheap packages routinely leave the deed out. Some attorney packages treat it as a billable add-on. Ask before you sign anything.
An estate plan is priced by what's in the package, and the deed recording is the piece that actually keeps your family out of court. Get that answer in writing before comparing anything else.
How our $1,995 flat fee breaks down
One fee, collected at your planning appointment, covering the complete package: the revocable living trust (individual or joint), pour-over will, advance healthcare directive, financial power of attorney, the property transfer deed, and the recording with the Shasta County Recorder. The fee also covers the planning appointment itself, document preparation, and the notarized signing appointment — with a mobile notary available if you can't come to our Bechelli Lane office. There is no hourly meter running and nothing added at signing.
When paying more is the right call
We'll say it plainly: some families should hire an attorney, and for them the higher fee is money well spent. If your estate is near the federal exemption threshold, if you're planning around a blended family with real potential for conflict, if a business needs a succession plan, or if you need advice about what to do rather than documents prepared for decisions you've made — that's attorney work. Part of our job as an LDA is recognizing those situations and referring you out before you spend a dollar with us.
Shopping specifically on price? See our affordable living trust page for the line-item breakdown of what $1,995 includes.
A word about "free" trust seminars
Redding sees its share of free-dinner estate planning seminars, especially aimed at retirees. The dinner is real; the "free" rarely is. These events typically funnel attendees into packages priced well above local market rates, sometimes bundled with annuity or investment sales. Before signing anything at or after a seminar, get an independent quote — from us, from a local attorney, from anyone not holding the pen at the dinner table.
The cheapest trust that never gets funded and the most expensive trust you didn't need have something in common: both cost your family more than they should have.