An estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City drafts the will or living trust, financial power of attorney, and advance health care directive that decide who inherits your property and who acts for you if you cannot. Flat fees here are $1,500 for a will-based plan and $3,500 for a trust-based plan.
Last updated: September 2026
Key Takeaways
- Flat pricing: $1,500 for a will-based plan, $3,500 for a trust-based plan. Every plan is custom built, so your figure can land above or below depending on your circumstances.
- Salt Lake County home values are what push most local families toward a trust. Real property is the asset that drags an estate into probate.
- Probate venue follows domicile. Under Utah Code 75-3-201, the first proceeding is filed in the county where the person lived at death, so a Salt Lake City resident’s estate is administered in Salt Lake County.
- Funding a trust with a Salt Lake City home means recording a deed with the Salt Lake County Recorder at 2001 South State Street. A trust nobody funded does nothing.
- Utah has no state estate tax and no inheritance tax. The Inheritance Tax Act was formally repealed on 5 May 2026.
Why Salt Lake City Families End Up in Probate
The pattern is consistent. A couple buys a house in Sugar House or the Avenues or Rose Park in the 1990s, holds it for thirty years, and never revisits how it is titled. There is a will in a drawer somewhere. When the second spouse dies, the house is the estate, and the house has to go through the district court in Salt Lake County before anyone can sell it.
That is the case an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City sees most often, and it is entirely preventable. The will did its job. A will is a set of instructions to a probate court, so having one guarantees probate rather than avoiding it. The document that would have kept the house out of court is a funded revocable living trust.
Utah’s venue rule makes this concrete.
Venue for the first informal or formal testacy or appointment proceedings after a decedent’s death is in the county where the decedent had his domicile at the time of his death.
If you live in Salt Lake City, your estate is administered in Salt Lake County. Property you own elsewhere can pull a second proceeding into another county or another state entirely, which is one of the strongest arguments for a trust when a family owns a cabin in Wasatch County or a rental in another state.
What an Estate Planning Lawyer in Salt Lake City Charges
Most local firms will not publish a number. Here are the actual fees.
| Plan | Flat fee | What it includes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will-based plan | $1,500 | Last will and testament, financial power of attorney, advance health care directive, guardian nominations for minor children | Renters and condo owners with modest equity, no out-of-state property |
| Trust-based plan | $3,500 | Revocable living trust, pour-over will, financial power of attorney, advance health care directive, deed preparation to move your Salt Lake County property into the trust | Homeowners with real equity, blended families, minor children, property in more than one county or state |
Both are quoted before drafting begins, so there is no hourly meter running during phone calls. The figures can move in either direction, because every plan here is custom built for the person in front of me. A single owner with one Salt Lake City home and two adult children is straightforward. A blended family with a business interest, a cabin held with siblings, and a beneficiary receiving needs-based benefits is not. You get your real number at the first meeting rather than after the work.
Recording fees paid to the Salt Lake County Recorder sit outside the flat fee, because they go to the county rather than to the firm.
Will or Trust for a Salt Lake City Household
The deciding factor is almost always real property. An estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City is really asking one question: is there a house, and how much equity is in it?
| Question | Will-based plan | Trust-based plan |
|---|---|---|
| Keeps the house out of probate? | No | Yes, once the deed is recorded |
| Stays private? | No. A will filed with the court is public. | Yes. Administered privately. |
| Covers incapacity? | No. Operates only at death. | Yes. A successor trustee can act. |
| Cabin in Wasatch or Summit County? | Can trigger a second proceeding | Handled in one trust |
| Cost today | $1,500 | $3,500 |
| Cost to the family later | Higher. Probate has its own filing fee and attorney fees. | Lower. Trust administration is usually faster and cheaper. |
The trust costs more now and usually costs the family less later. The will costs less now and moves the expense to your beneficiaries at the worst possible moment. Neither choice is wrong. They are different places to put the same money, and for a Salt Lake City homeowner the trust usually wins on arithmetic.
Funding a Trust in Salt Lake County
If you ask an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City only one question, make it this one. Funding is the step that separates a plan from a binder, and it is the one most often skipped.
A revocable living trust only controls what has been transferred into it. For your Salt Lake City home, that means a new deed conveying the property from you as an individual to you as trustee, recorded with the Salt Lake County Recorder. The Recorder’s office is at 2001 South State Street, Suite N1-600, Salt Lake City, and is open Monday through Friday.
Until that deed is recorded, the house is still titled in your name. Your trust exists, your family paid for it, and the house goes through probate anyway. When you compare quotes from any estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City, the question that matters is whether deed preparation and recording are included in the fee or left to you.
Financial accounts, retirement plans, and life insurance are funded differently, through beneficiary designations and account retitling rather than deeds. Our step-by-step guide to funding a trust in Utah walks through each asset type.
The Documents a Complete Plan Includes
Whichever structure you choose, the headline document is only part of it. An estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City should deliver all of the following, because a gap in any one of them is where a family gets stuck.
| Document | What it does | When it operates |
|---|---|---|
| Last will and testament | Names who receives probate property, nominates a personal representative and a guardian for minor children | At death, through the court |
| Revocable living trust | Holds title and passes assets to beneficiaries without probate | Immediately, and through incapacity and death |
| Pour-over will | Catches anything never retitled into the trust and directs it there | At death, as a backstop |
| Financial power of attorney | Lets an agent handle money, property, and accounts if you cannot | During incapacity, ends at death |
| Advance health care directive | Names a health care agent and records treatment wishes | When you cannot speak for yourself |
| Guardian nomination | Tells the court who should raise your minor children | At death or incapacity of both parents |
Two of those six operate while you are alive. That surprises people. Estate planning is only half about death, and the financial power of attorney and the health care directive are the documents a family reaches for first, usually during a hospital stay rather than after a funeral. They are also the two most often missing when someone arrives with a will they bought online.
Who in Salt Lake City Needs Which Plan
Rather than a general recommendation, here is how an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City would usually call it for common local situations.
Young family renting in Sugar House or downtown. A will-based plan at $1,500 is normally right. The critical piece is not the will, it is the guardian nomination for the children and the two incapacity documents. There is no house to keep out of probate yet, so the trust would be solving a problem you do not have.
Long-time homeowner in the Avenues, Rose Park, or Millcreek. A trust-based plan almost always earns its cost. Thirty years of Salt Lake County appreciation means the house is the estate, and the house is exactly what a funded trust keeps out of court.
Blended family. A trust, and careful drafting inside it. Utah’s elective share means a surviving spouse cannot simply be written out, so a plan that leaves everything to children from a first marriage does not quietly succeed. It produces litigation over what the augmented estate is worth.
Family with a cabin. A trust. A cabin in Wasatch, Summit, or Duchesne County held outside a trust can trigger a second proceeding in that county, and one held with siblings brings co-ownership questions that should be settled while everyone is alive.
Business owner. A trust, coordinated with the operating agreement. A buy-sell provision that contradicts the estate plan is a common and expensive discovery, because the two documents are usually drafted years apart by different people.
Someone with a beneficiary who receives needs-based benefits. A trust with the share structured so it does not disqualify that person from benefits. An outright gift, however well meant, can do real harm here.
What Utah Law Requires
Three provisions decide whether the documents an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City drafts will actually work.
Wills. Under Utah Code 75-2-502, a will must be in writing, signed by you, and signed by at least two witnesses. Utah also recognizes an unwitnessed holographic will if the signature and material portions are in your own handwriting, which is a safety net rather than a plan.
Self-proving. Adding sworn affidavits under Utah Code 75-2-504 means the court does not have to locate your witnesses years later. It costs one extra signature page and saves real trouble.
Spousal rights. Under Utah Code 75-2-202, a surviving spouse can elect one third of the augmented estate, with a supplemental floor of $75,000. A surviving spouse is also entitled to a $22,500 homestead allowance and up to $15,000 of exempt property. You cannot quietly write a spouse out of a Utah estate plan.
If Someone Has Already Died
Planning and probate are different matters, though the same estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City should be able to handle both. If you are here because a Salt Lake City parent or spouse has died, the path depends on the size and composition of the estate.
Utah offers a small estate affidavit under Utah Code 75-3-1201 for collecting personal property thirty days after death when the entire estate subject to administration, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000. It does not transfer real property, and a Salt Lake City house normally takes an estate past the threshold. See our guides to the Utah small estate affidavit and to working with a probate attorney in Salt Lake City.
What Happens Without a Plan
Dying without a will in Utah does not send your property to the state. It means Utah Code 75-2-102 writes the plan for you, and the default catches many Salt Lake City families off guard.
A surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate if you leave no descendants, or if every surviving descendant is also that spouse’s descendant. But if even one descendant is not your spouse’s, the spouse takes the first $75,000 plus half the balance, and the remainder passes to your descendants.
In practice that means a long second marriage plus one child from a prior relationship produces a split estate by operation of law. A surviving spouse can end up co-owning the family home with a stepchild. It is one of the most common outcomes an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City has to explain after the fact, and almost nobody intends it.
Incapacity is the other half. Without a financial power of attorney and an advance health care directive, a family facing a stroke or a dementia diagnosis has to petition the court for guardianship or conservatorship. That is slower, public, and considerably more expensive than the documents would have been.
Mistakes That Cost Salt Lake City Families the Most
- The unfunded trust. Signed, never deeded. The house goes through probate and the trust sat in a drawer.
- Beneficiary designations nobody updated. Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by designation, not by will. A former spouse named in 2009 collects in 2026.
- Adding a child to the deed. It is a present gift, exposes the home to that child’s creditors and divorce, and gives up the basis step-up the family would otherwise get.
- Ignoring the cabin. Property in another county or state frequently triggers a second proceeding that a trust would have avoided.
- Never revisiting the plan. A plan written before a divorce, a remarriage, or a business sale describes a life you no longer live.
Four of those five are funding and maintenance failures rather than drafting failures. That is the pattern an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City sees again and again, and it is why the follow-through matters more than the paragraph choices.
Working With an Estate Planning Lawyer in Salt Lake City
The process runs three meetings and about three to four weeks. The first is a design meeting covering what you own, how each asset is titled, and who depends on you, and you leave it knowing which plan you need and what it costs. Documents are then drafted and sent for you to read before any signing. The signing meeting handles Utah’s witness and notary requirements, and for trust plans the deed is prepared and recorded afterward.
Offices are in Lindon and West Jordan, both a short drive from Salt Lake City, and the practice covers business law, real estate law, estate planning, and probate. Handling probate is what informs the planning side, because it shows which provisions actually break. If you want the statewide picture first, start with the overview of estate planning in Utah, or read how a Utah living trust works.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City cost?
At this office, a flat $1,500 for a will-based plan and a flat $3,500 for a trust-based plan, quoted before drafting begins. Because plans are custom built, your figure may be higher or lower depending on complexity. Salt Lake County recording fees are separate and are paid to the county.
Do I need a trust if I own a home in Salt Lake City?
Usually yes, and it is the first thing an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City will ask about. Real property is the asset that forces an estate into probate, and Salt Lake County home equity is normally the largest thing a family owns. A funded trust keeps the house out of court, stays private, and covers incapacity as well as death.
Where would my estate be probated if I live in Salt Lake City?
In Salt Lake County. Utah Code 75-3-201 places venue for the first proceeding in the county where the person was domiciled at death. Property owned in another county or state can pull in an additional proceeding, which a trust generally prevents.
What does funding a trust involve for a Salt Lake City house?
A new deed conveying the property from you individually to you as trustee, recorded with the Salt Lake County Recorder at 2001 South State Street. Until that deed is recorded, the home is not in the trust and will be probated regardless of what the trust says.
Does Utah charge an estate tax or inheritance tax?
No. Utah imposes no state estate tax, and its Inheritance Tax Act at Title 59, Chapter 11 was formally repealed effective 5 May 2026. Only the federal estate tax remains, and it reaches a small minority of estates.
Can I disinherit my spouse in a Utah will?
Not completely. Utah Code 75-2-202 lets a surviving spouse elect one third of the augmented estate with a $75,000 supplemental floor, plus a $22,500 homestead allowance and up to $15,000 of exempt property. A plan that ignores this invites litigation rather than avoiding the claim.
Is a handwritten will valid in Utah?
Yes, within limits. Utah Code 75-2-502 recognizes a holographic will, valid whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions are in the testator’s own handwriting. It rescues some homemade documents but invites handwriting and intent disputes that a properly executed will avoids.
Should I use an estate planning lawyer in Salt Lake City or can I do this online?
An online form can produce a will that satisfies Utah Code 75-2-502. What it cannot do is review how your Salt Lake County property is titled, catch a retirement account still naming a former spouse, or record the deed that keeps your house out of probate. For a renter with modest assets an online will is defensible. For a homeowner it is usually the most expensive document in the house.
Do you meet clients in Salt Lake City?
Offices are in Lindon and West Jordan, both a short drive from Salt Lake City, and much of the design and review work can be handled by phone or video. The signing meeting is in person because Utah’s witness and notary requirements call for it.
Ready to get your plan in place? A will-based plan is $1,500 and a trust-based plan is $3,500, quoted flat before any drafting and adjusted only for genuine complexity.
Call or text (801) 613-1472, or reach out through the contact page. Offices in Lindon and West Jordan, serving Salt Lake City and the surrounding area.
This article is general information about Utah law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fees quoted describe this office only. Statutes, dollar thresholds, and county office details change, so confirm anything you intend to rely on. Consult a licensed attorney about your situation.
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