Living Trusts Focused On What Often Gets Missed
Securing your family's future only happens if you complete the final step of funding your trust.
Expertly designed Living Trusts, which include comprehensive estate and strategic tax planning as part of your process.
The Crucial Step Most People Miss
Most people are surprised to realize that creating a Trust is just the beginning. Families establish a Trust for their beneficiaries, only to learn later that it was never properly funded. Based on industry estimates, 50% to nearly 80% of Trusts end up this way. This high rate occurs because many people stop after creating the trust documents, failing to complete the crucial second step of funding their trusts. This is like building a beautiful home, but never moving your belongings into it. This is what opens your beneficiaries to the costly probate process, unnecessary attorneys' fees, and delays their access to what you intended.
The Truth About The Traditional Attorney Process
When you meet with an attorney to create a Living Trust, there is a normal process. You fill out an intake form with your personal information, then you generally have a 30 to 50-minute consultation.
The Attorney
When you meet with an Estate Planning attorney, they are focused on your unique circumstances, your complex issues. Otherwise, they take notes, and you pay them between $2,000 - $5,000 on average.
The Assistant
Behind the scenes, their paralegal or administrative assistant takes it from there. They use Living Trust software, and your trust is created. The software is the real hero in this story. Unless you are part of the 10% of families that have a complex estate planning scenario, why spend more than you need to?
More importantly, attorneys DO NOT advise you on how best to structure your assets in the most appropriate investments, or retirement strategies to live the lifestyle you've always imagined, allowing you and your loved ones to be better positioned for taxes and remaining assets in the future.
Our Core Services
We provide integrated solutions to protect your assets today and secure your legacy for tomorrow.
Living Trusts
Maintain control of your assets during your lifetime while ensuring a seamless, probate-free transfer to your beneficiaries.
Estate Planning
Comprehensive strategies to protect your wealth, dictate your healthcare wishes, and provide for your loved ones exactly as you intend.
Tax Planning
Proactive, strategic tax minimization to ensure you keep more of what you've earned and maximize the wealth passed to the next generation.
More Than Just Forms
At Tax Smart Trusts, we don’t just use software to “fill out forms.” Instead, you'll be working with a Certified Estate Planner to ensure your Living Trust is structured properly. Our goal is to help you make decisions, understand your goals, your family dynamics, your tax picture, and the long‑term plan behind every choice. We will provide the legal structure, the clarity, context, and strategy that make the trust actually work as intended.
With Tax Smart Trusts, you get all of this at a fraction of the price of a traditional Living Trust that provides state-specific, legal documents, optimized for, and available in, all 50 U.S. states and D.C.
Your trust will be comprised of all the necessary documents:
- Revocable, Non-Revocable, or Restatement Trust
- Pour-Over Will
- Last Will and Testiment
- Financial Power Of Attorney
- Advanced Healtcare Directive
Instead of just a one‑time legal transaction, you also get:
- A trusted guide who helps you think through the emotional and financial implications of each decision.
- A coordinated plan that ensures the trust is funded properly, not just drafted.
- A long‑term partner who updates the plan as life, laws, and assets change.
- A predictable, transparent process without the feeling of intimidation, scheduling pressure, or hourly billing of a traditional attorney experience.
Why Choose Tax Smart Trusts?
- Decades of combined expertise in estate and tax planning.
- Personalized strategies tailored to your unique family dynamics.
- Focus on maximizing wealth retention and minimizing tax liabilities.
- Clear, jargon-free communication every step of the way.
- Offering in-home, in‑office or virtual appointments.
Expertise You Can Trust
For many families, the real fear isn't creating the documents-it's getting them wrong, and never really understanding what they mean. Creating a living trust isn’t just a legal exercise, it’s a financial, emotional, and legacy‑defining moment. Tax Smart Trusts offers a guided experience that connects the legal documents to your entire financial life.
With Tax Smart Trusts you get the best of both worlds: attorney‑built legal documents and professionally‑guided financial strategy, all in a private, modern, easy‑to‑understand platform and process.
What Our Clients Say
Don't just take our word for it. Hear from families who have secured their legacy with our guidance.
Ed & Louise P. - Retirees
"Tax Smart Trusts made the complex process of setting up our revocable living trust incredibly straightforward. We finally have peace of mind knowing our children won't have to deal with probate."
Joseph N. - Business Owner
"Their tax planning strategies saved my estate a significant amount in potential liabilities. The team's deep understanding of both estate and tax implications is unmatched."
Elena R. - Client since 2021
"Clear, professional, and genuinely caring. They took the time to understand our unique family dynamics and crafted an estate plan that perfectly aligned with our wishes."
Victor D. - Client since 2015
"I never imagined navigating this process alone, but after my wife passed, I knew I had to get this done. I appreciate the care and the detailed process that walked me through things I didn't really understand at first. Highly recommend!"
Richard W. - Retired Veteran
"I attended a trust seminar, and wasn't impressed. Instead, I found Tax Smart Trusts. They were only a bit more expensive, but I got so much more value, and even ended up improving my retirement."
No Gaps. No Guesswork. Just Smart Estate Planning.
More Than a Living Trust - A Full Estate & Tax Plan for Your Future.We help you build a legally sound living trust that fits within your larger estate and tax strategy, so nothing is overlooked.
Not Sure Where To Start?
A short conversation can help you understand whether a living trust, and which options, make sense for your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Clear answers to common questions about estate planning, living trusts, and securing your legacy.
What Is A Revocable Living Trust?
A Revocable Living Trust is a legal document that places your assets into a trust during your lifetime and dictates exactly where they go upon your passing. Unlike a traditional will, it allows your estate to bypass the costly and time-consuming probate process, and it can be changed or revoked by you at any time.
Why Is "Funding" My Trust So Important?
Creating the legal trust documents is only the first step. Funding your trust means legally transferring ownership of your assets (like real estate, bank accounts, and investments) from your personal name into the name of the trust. If a trust is not properly funded, this is where the nightmare can begin, leaving your assets to be first addressed by the court, rather than your heirs, and subject to probate, defeating the main purpose of having a trust.
What's The Difference Between a Will And A Trust?
A Will only goes into effect after you pass away and must go through the public probate court system. A Living Trust takes effect immediately upon signing, can manage your assets during your lifetime (especially helpful if you become incapacitated), and bypasses the probate court entirely, keeping your family's affairs private.
Do I Lose Control Of My Assets If I Put Them In A Trust?
No, absolutely not. With a Revocable Living Trust, you are typically the trustee and retain complete control over your assets. You can buy, sell, or trade assets just as you did before. You can also amend or revoke the trust entirely at any time while you are alive and capable.
Are Your Trust Documents Valid In My State?
Yes, our services provide state-specific, legally binding documents that are optimized for and available in all 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C.
What Is The Difference Between This And Lower Cost D.I.Y. Trust Online?
If you compare the most popular online D.I.Y. option, you'll find that costs increase as you compare the entry-level price, to a complete package including support. That would bring that low cost D.I.Y. price to $900, which still does not include notary services.
Tax Smart Trusts delivers far more. You get professional guidance, funding assistance, notary services, and integrated tax and estate planning, all in one streamlined package.
For only a little more than the D.I.Y. option, you gain the confidence that your trust is legally sound, properly funded, and truly effective. It’s complete peace of mind, built into one plan.
What Is The Average Cost Of A Trust With Tax Smart Trust?
The average cost to establish a trust typically ranges from $1,300 to $1,800 (depending on the complexity of your estate, or sub-trusts, can be slightly higher).
Every trust package includes:
- Notary services for all trust documents (a discount will be applied if you notarize elsewhere)
- A comprehensive estate and tax planning review
- Funding services to assist with transferring assets into your trust
Please note: Property deed transfers and local county recording fees are not included in this price.
What Does Tax Smart Trust Do Differently?
At Tax Smart Trusts, you'll work directly with a Certified Estate Planner who act as your fiduciary. We guide you step by step through the Living Trust process, clearly explaining all legal requirements and implications. We also provide a comprehensive review to help you fund your Trust and seamlessly transfer your financial instruments. Thereafter, we add an additional layer of security by providing an estate and tax planning assessment to ensure your ideal plan for retirement at no additional cost.
Ultimately, we safeguard everything you’ve worked a lifetime to build, living in retirement the way you imagined, while ensuring your legacy passes to your loved ones or charities as expediently and tax-efficiently as possible.
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Create Your Living Trust With Estate And Tax Planning Built-In.
Ready to Protect Your Family and Your Legacy?
500 N State College Blvd., Suite #1100
Orange, CA 92868
Hours: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (M-F)