A family trust carries a government charge and a professional fee. The government charge can be worked out in advance: a trust deed that settles immovable property is registered at the Sub-Registrar of Assurances, and where the deed disposes property it is stamped as a conveyance, which is 5 per cent of market value in Maharashtra and in Karnataka. The professional fee is priced on the drafting that the deed needs.

WillJini scopes a trust engagement to the family it is for, and the fee is quoted once that scope is settled. Four things decide that scope: the assets going into the trust, the states those assets sit in, the beneficiary class, and whether a family business is involved.

What is included in the cost of creating a family trust?

The cost of creating a family trust in India divides into government charges and professional charges. The deed decides the size of both.

Government charges are the stamp duty on the deed, the registration fee at the Sub-Registrar office, notarisation, and the execution costs of getting the document signed and lodged. Professional charges are the drafting of the deed itself, the tax review, estate planning advice, and advisory on moving property into the trust.

The total follows from seven things:

1. The type of family trust deed being created.
2. State stamp duty rules.
3. The value of the assets transferred into the trust.
4. Whether immovable property is involved.
5. The complexity of the trustee and beneficiary clauses.
6. The professional support required for drafting and tax review.
7. Ongoing accounting and compliance needs.

Online guides commonly quote around Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 for registration and Rs 100 to Rs 500 for notarisation. Both charges are set state by state, so you pay what your own state's table says on the day the deed is presented.

Related guides:

• Private family trust in India, the full guide to what a trust does and how it is taxed
• How to register a family trust in India, the procedure state by state
• Types of trusts in India, and what the type changes
• Family trust vs will, if you are still deciding whether you need a trust

What are the main cost components of a family trust?

A family trust is charged under the eight heads in the table below, some of them once and some of them for as long as the trust exists.

Stamp duty is the largest of these wherever property is settled into the trust, because it is charged on the value of the property. A deed settling cash or other movable assets carries a smaller duty exposure than one that moves a flat, a house or a shop into the trust.

What are the stamp duty and registration charges on a family trust deed?

Stamp duty on a family trust deed is charged at the conveyance rate where the deed disposes property, which is 5 per cent of market value in Maharashtra and in Karnataka, and the registration fee is charged separately by the state on top of it.

Registration is compulsory once immovable property is involved, because section 5 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 makes a trust of immovable property valid only where it is declared by a registered non-testamentary instrument signed by the author of the trust or the trustee, or by the will of either of them. A trust of movable property is valid on the same footing, or where ownership of the property is transferred to the trustee.

Both state schedules charge a trust deed according to whether it disposes property or only declares a trust. Under the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958, Schedule I Article 61 charges a trust declaration that disposes property the same duty as a conveyance under Article 25, which in a Municipal Corporation area is 5 per cent of market value; a declaration that disposes nothing takes the fixed amount in the same article. Under the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957, Article 54 of the Schedule charges a funded trust at the Article 20(1) conveyance rate, which is 5 per cent of value.

In both states the cess, the surcharge and any local body levy are charged separately under their own statutes, and the registration fee is a separate charge again. Every other state applies its own schedule, and Delhi charges stamp duty under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as it applies there, at rates set by notification.

Section 78 of the Registration Act, 1908 leaves each state government to set its own Table of Fees, and the registration fee is paid at the Sub-Registrar office where the deed is presented. Maharashtra publishes its Table of Fees on the Department of Registration and Stamps site, and Karnataka publishes its own.

Six things decide the duty on a particular deed:

1. The stamp article your state applies to a trust deed.
2. Whether the trust holds movable assets, immovable property, or both.
3. Whether property is actually being transferred into the trust, or only declared.
4. The registration fee on your state's own Table of Fees.
5. Whether a valuation of the property is required before the deed is presented.
6. Whether your state treats a disposing declaration as a conveyance.

An instrument that is not duly stamped may not be admissible in evidence. Under-stamping therefore delays the registration itself, and the shortfall surfaces again every later time the deed is produced, to a bank, on a property transaction, or in a tax or legal proceeding.

Where a family's property sits in more than one state, each state's schedule applies to the property in that state. Deciding which articles apply, and what the deed has to dispose for the trust to work, is part of scoping the deed before anyone drafts it.

What do legal and professional fees cost?

Legal and professional fees on a family trust are priced on the drafting the deed needs, so they rise with the number of beneficiaries, the kinds of asset going in, and the number of states involved.

A basic family trust deed holding limited movable assets takes less drafting. A trust involving real estate, several beneficiaries, shares in a family business, NRI family members, minor beneficiaries or discretionary distribution rules takes considerably more, because each of those decides a clause.

Professional fees cover:

1. The lawyer's fee for drafting the trust deed.
2. The CA's fee for the tax review.
3. Estate planning advisory fee.
4. Property transfer advisory fee.
5. FEMA advice where NRIs are involved.
6. Registration support charges.
7. Review of the trustee and beneficiary clauses.

No statute and no professional body publishes a scale for drafting a trust deed. WillJini prices the drafting against what the family is settling and the states the assets sit in, and the figure is given on a call.

Where trustee powers, beneficiary rights, asset details or distribution rules are left unclear, the family deals with it later, in the tax treatment, in a dispute between heirs, or in the day to day running of the trust. Section 307(5) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 tests the deed as it stood on the day it was signed, so a clause left vague inside the document cannot be repaired afterwards.

What does a family trust cost every year after it is created?

A family trust that holds income-generating assets costs money every year it exists, because it is assessed as a separate person with its own PAN and its own return.

Section 262 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 is the PAN provision, and section 262(1)(d) reaches a resident other than an individual that enters into financial transactions aggregating Rs 2,50,000 or more in a tax year. Section 263 carries the return obligation, and section 263(1)(a)(iii) requires a return from a person other than a company or a firm whose total income, or the total income of any other person in respect of which he is assessable, exceeded the maximum amount not chargeable to income-tax. The Table at section 263(1)(c) sets 31 July for any other assessee, and 31 October for a person other than a company whose accounts are required to be audited.

The rate the trust pays follows from the wording of the deed, and it is fixed on the day the deed is signed. Where the deed does not expressly state the beneficiaries and their shares, section 307(1) charges the whole of the trust's income at the maximum marginal rate, and section 2(70) defines that rate by reference to the highest slab for an individual, association of persons or body of individuals in the Finance Act of the relevant year, so it moves each year with that Act.

The recurring charges themselves are:

1. Accounting and bookkeeping.
2. Income tax return filing.
3. Audit, where applicable.
4. Trustee records and meeting documentation.
5. Property maintenance.
6. Bank account and investment management.
7. Professional advice on major asset decisions.
8. Tax review before a sale or a distribution of assets.

For a simple family trust with no significant income, the annual cost stays small. For a trust holding rental property, investments or shares in a family business, the accounting and filing costs are part of the running cost and belong in the figure from the day the trust is planned.

What does a family trust cost in different situations?

The cost of creating a family trust moves with what goes into it, and the largest single step is between a deed that settles cash or movable assets and one that settles immovable property. The table below compares the common situations.

The figure for one family comes out of the stamp article that applies in their state, the registration fee on that state's table, the value of what is being settled, and the drafting the deed needs.

Is the cost of a family trust worth it?

The cost of creating a family trust earns itself back where the family needs assets held and managed over time, and for a good many families a registered will does the same job and carries no stamp duty.

Neither Schedule I to the Maharashtra Stamp Act nor the Schedule to the Karnataka Stamp Act contains an article for a will, so a will attracts no stamp duty in either state. A trust that settles property pays the conveyance rate on the deed.

A trust is worth its duty where:

1. The family holds high-value property or investments.
2. There are several heirs and a real risk of dispute.
3. A beneficiary is a minor or is financially dependent.
4. Business assets need continuity planning.
5. The family wants distribution controlled over a period of years.
6. NRI or cross-border family members are involved.
7. The family wants the assets managed by trustees.

Where the estate goes to one or two capable adults and nothing has to be held or managed for years afterwards, a registered will does the job. Where the family has complex assets, a dependent beneficiary or a business that must not be split among heirs, a trust lets trustees hold and manage those assets for years after the deed is signed. A family should settle that question before paying anyone to draft a deed.

What does WillJini charge to set up a family trust?

WillJini prices a family trust engagement against the family it is for, and the figure is given on a call once the scope is settled.

WillJini prepares estate planning documents, private family trust documentation, trust deed clauses, trustee powers, beneficiary clauses and succession planning paperwork. A family trust works where the deed is clear, properly stamped, registered where registration is required, and matched to what the family is actually holding, and WillJini drafts the deed to meet those conditions.

The package is built around the family's own situation: what is being settled into the trust, the states those assets sit in, the beneficiary class, and whether a family business is involved. WillJini establishes those four on the call and quotes the fee from them. The private family trust service sets out what the engagement includes, and sets a trust beside a registered will for a family still deciding between the two.

FAQs

How much does it cost to create a family trust in India?

There is no single figure for the whole of India, because each state fixes its own stamp duty and its own Table of Fees. The state's stamp duty on a trust deed that disposes property is charged at the conveyance rate, which is 5 per cent of market value in a Municipal Corporation area in Maharashtra under Schedule I Article 61 read with Article 25, and 5 per cent of value in Karnataka under Article 54 read with Article 20(1). The registration fee is charged separately on each state's own Table of Fees under section 78 of the Registration Act, 1908. The drafting and advisory fee is priced on the deed the family needs.

What is the biggest cost in creating a family trust?

Stamp duty, wherever immovable property is settled into the trust. A trust declaration that disposes property is stamped as a conveyance: 5 per cent of market value in a Municipal Corporation area under Article 61 of Schedule I to the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958, and 5 per cent of value under Article 54 of the Schedule to the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957. It is charged on the value of the property, so it grows with the asset.

Is registration fee the same in every state?

No, the registration fee is set state by state. Section 78 of the Registration Act, 1908 leaves each state government to fix its own Table of Fees, and the stamp duty on the deed is a separate charge again under each state's own Stamp Act. Both are paid at the Sub-Registrar office where the deed is presented, and the amounts are the ones on that state's table on the day of presentation.

Is a family trust costly if only cash is transferred?

A deed that settles cash or other movable assets carries lower duty exposure than one that moves a flat, a house or a shop into the trust, because the duty follows the value of what the deed disposes. The other costs still apply: the deed has to be drafted, and the trust takes its own PAN under section 262 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and files its own return under section 263.

Are there recurring costs after creating a family trust?

Yes, where the trust earns income or holds active assets. The trust is assessed as a separate person, with its own PAN under section 262 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and its own return under section 263. The Table at section 263(1)(c) sets 31 July for any other assessee, and 31 October for a person other than a company whose accounts are required to be audited. Accounting, bookkeeping, trustee records and property maintenance run alongside that.

Can WillJini help estimate the cost of creating a family trust?

Yes, WillJini works out the government charges for the states the assets sit in, and prices the drafting against what the family is settling, the beneficiary class, and whether a family business is involved. The engagement is scoped to the family's own situation and the figure is given on the call.

Why should families not choose the cheapest trust deed?

Because the deed is tested as it stood on the day it was signed. Section 307(5) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 treats a beneficiary as unidentified unless that person is expressly stated in the instrument of trust and identifiable as such on the date of the deed, and treats the shares as indeterminate unless they too are expressly stated and ascertainable on that date. Where the deed fails that test, section 307(1) charges the whole income at the maximum marginal rate, and a clause left vague inside the document cannot be repaired afterwards.