Living Trust Statistics (2026): 42 Verified Figures With Sources

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated October 2026.

This page collects 42 figures on living trust ownership and use, in the US and in California. Each one is traced to the organization that first published it, with the survey method and sample size stated where the source is a survey. Surveys here measure what people say they own, not whether the trust is signed, current, or funded. The page is reviewed quarterly.

Cite this page: Ridley Law, “Living Trust Statistics (2026),” ridleylawoffices.com/living-trust-statistics/, October 2026.

How many Americans have a living trust?

About 14% of US adults have a trust, according to Trust & Will’s 2026 Estate Planning Report, a survey of 5,000 US adults fielded January 28 through February 5, 2026.

Trust & Will is an online estate planning company and this is its own survey. It asked about trusts generally, not only revocable living trusts. A will is more common: 26% of respondents have one. Source: Trust & Will, 2026 Estate Planning Report (2026).

Is trust ownership going up?

Trust & Will found trust ownership at 14% in 2026, up from 11% in its 2025 edition. Over the same year, will ownership fell from 31% to 26%. Trust & Will reads that as people who act choosing fuller plans. Two different samples produced the two years, so treat the change as a survey result, not a census count. Source: Trust & Will, 2026 Estate Planning Report (2026).

How do other surveys compare?

Two other 2025 and 2026 surveys put the share between 13% and 21%. Caring.com, polling 2,500 or more adults with YouGov, found 13% reporting a living trust in 2025. LegalShield’s July 2026 survey of 1,850 US adults found 21% with a living trust.

The spread comes from who was asked and how. Neither number is a government count, and no federal agency tracks living trust ownership. Source: Caring.com, 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study (2025). Source: LegalShield, Come for the Will, Stay for the Trust (2026).

How many people with a will also have a trust?

Among will-holders in Trust & Will’s 2026 survey, 28% also have a trust. Separately, 56% of all respondents said they have no estate planning document of any kind, including a will, trust, or power of attorney. Source: Trust & Will, 2026 Estate Planning Report (2026).

Which US region has the most living trusts?

The West, at 21% of adults with a trust, according to Trust & Will’s 2026 Estate Planning Report (5,000 adults).

Region	Adults with a trust (2026)
West	21%
Northeast	15%
Southeast	14%
Midwest	13%
Southwest	12%
US overall	14%

Trust & Will reports the West at 21%, the Northeast at 15%, the Southeast at 14%, the Midwest at 13%, and the Southwest at 12%. The West was also highest in the company’s 2025 report, at 17%. Trust & Will’s regions are its own five groupings and the page doesn’t say which states fall in each. The survey doesn’t report a California-only figure, and neither does any other source I found. California is inside the West number, not a separate one. Source: Trust & Will, Estate Planning Statistics 2026 (2026). Source: Trust & Will, 2025 Report: Demographic Breakdown (2025).

Who has a living trust?

Do homeowners have trusts more often than renters?

Yes. In Trust & Will’s 2026 survey, 21% of homeowners have a trust, against 10% of renters. Source: Trust & Will, 2026 Estate Planning Report (2026).

Which age group has the most trusts?

Gen Z, at 21%, in Trust & Will’s 2026 survey. Millennials were next at 18%, and Baby Boomers were at 11%. Boomers were the group most likely to have a will, at 37%. The sample for each generation is a subset of the 5,000, so the generation figures carry wider error than the headline. Source: Trust & Will, Estate Planning Statistics 2026 (2026).

Are men or women more likely to have a trust?

Men. 19% of men and 11% of women report a trust in Trust & Will’s 2026 survey. Source: Trust & Will, 2026 Estate Planning Report (2026).

Do parents have trusts more often than non-parents?

Yes, 17% of parents against 10% of adults without children who don’t plan to have them. Among married respondents, 21% have a trust. Source: Trust & Will, 2026 Estate Planning Report (2026). Source: Trust & Will, Estate Planning Statistics 2026 (2026).

At what age do people create a trust?

The average is 35, about five years earlier than the average age of 40 for creating a will, per Trust & Will’s 2026 survey. Source: Trust & Will, Estate Planning Statistics 2026 (2026).

Are living trusts getting more popular?

Trust questions to LegalShield’s network of provider attorneys have grown about seven-fold in a decade as a share of estate planning inquiries, according to LegalShield Intelligence in 2026.

This measures calls to one company’s membership network, not trusts signed nationwide. LegalShield says trusts now make up almost 1 in 5 estate planning calls. Estate planning as a whole drives 1 in 6 legal inquiries to the network, up from roughly 1 in 9 since 2016. The data comes from approximately 150,000 consumer calls a month. Source: LegalShield, Come for the Will, Stay for the Trust (2026).

Why don’t more people have a living trust?

The most common reason in Trust & Will’s 2026 survey was believing they don’t have enough assets, at 27% of respondents without a will or trust.

Another 15% said it feels too expensive. In LegalShield’s 2026 survey, procrastination was the top answer among people missing a living trust, power of attorney, or healthcare directive, at 27%. Both are self-reported reasons. Source: Trust & Will, 2026 Estate Planning Report (2026). Source: LegalShield, Come for the Will, Stay for the Trust (2026).

Why do Californians use living trusts?

Mostly to avoid California’s statutory probate fees and the 9 to 18 months a formal probate typically takes. Both are set by statute or by the court system, not by surveys. For how a trust compares with a will, see will vs. living trust in California.

What does probate cost on a $1,000,000 estate in California?

$46,000 in statutory fees on a $1,000,000 estate: $23,000 to the attorney for the personal representative and $23,000 to the personal representative, computed from Probate Code sections 10810 and 10800.

Each section sets 4% on the first $100,000, 3% on the next $100,000, and 2% on the next $800,000. $4,000 plus $3,000 plus $16,000 is $23,000. The fee runs on the gross value of the estate, without reference to encumbrances or other obligations, so a mortgage doesn’t reduce the base. These are the statutory fees for ordinary services. The court can allow more for extraordinary services. The table applies the statutory brackets, which add 1% on the next $9,000,000. See what probate actually costs in California and a worked example on a $700,000 house. Source: Probate Code, section 10810 (statute). Source: Probate Code, section 10800 (statute).

Gross estate	Attorney fee	Personal representative fee	Combined	Combined as share of estate
$500,000	$13,000	$13,000	$26,000	5.2%
$700,000	$17,000	$17,000	$34,000	4.9%
$1,000,000	$23,000	$23,000	$46,000	4.6%
$1,500,000	$28,000	$28,000	$56,000	3.7%
$2,000,000	$33,000	$33,000	$66,000	3.3%

How long does probate take in California?

The California Courts Self-Help Guide says the entire formal probate process typically takes 9 to 18 months and can sometimes take longer. The same guide puts the typical court filing fee to open a case at $435. Fees to administer the estate are usually not paid until the end of the case. Source: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Overview of formal probate (accessed October 2026). See also how long probate takes in California.

Does a small estate avoid probate in California?

Only a small one. The limit is $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025. A California home alone usually exceeds it. The Judicial Council’s guide tells readers not to count property held in a living trust toward that value. Dollar limits change every three years, so check California’s 2026 estate numbers for the current ones. Source: California Courts Self-Help Guide, When formal probate may not be needed (accessed October 2026).

How many probate cases do California courts handle?

California superior courts received 41,985 estate, trust, and other probate filings in fiscal year 2024-25 and disposed of 33,656, according to the Judicial Council’s 2026 Court Statistics Report. The category counts trust petitions too, so it isn’t a count of estates. It excludes conservatorships and guardianships. More numbers are on California probate statistics. Source: Judicial Council of California, 2026 Court Statistics Report (2026).

Does having a trust document avoid probate?

Only for assets titled in the trust. A trust that was signed but never funded leaves the house in probate. See whether your trust is funded. For will ownership numbers, see how many people have a will. To set one up, see living trust attorney and what a living trust costs in California.

Related pages on this site

• Living Trust Attorney in Ventura County, California
• Will vs. Living Trust in California: Which Do You Need?
• How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in California?
• How Many People Have a Will? Estate Planning Statistics
• California Probate Statistics (2026)
• What Probate Actually Costs in California
• Is Your California Living Trust Actually Funded?
• Estate Planning Statistics and California Guides

Methodology

Each figure comes from the organization that first published it: Trust & Will, Caring.com with YouGov, and LegalShield for survey and inquiry data, the California Legislature for the Probate Code, and the Judicial Council of California for court data and the Self-Help Guide. Secondary reports and news stories that repeat those numbers were excluded. The three surveys are self-reported and run by companies in the estate planning business, so they measure what respondents say, with different samples and wording. The fee table is arithmetic on the statute, not a published figure. I looked for trust data in Gallup polling and the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances and found none on trust ownership, so neither is cited. The page is next reviewed in January 2027. Report an error to eric@ridleylawoffices.com.