Trust Administration Attorneys in North Dakota

41 trust administration firms in North Dakota, by county and firm type.

State

County

Practice Area

All Areas

Planning ahead

Estate Planning41 Tax Planning7 Medicaid Planning4

Settling an estate

Trust Administration41 Probate41 Probate Litigation2 Trust Litigation1

Capacity and care

Elder Law5 Guardianship6

Firm Type

Firm listings are for informational purposes only. SimplyTrust does not endorse or recommend any specific firm or attorney. Contact firms directly to discuss your situation and verify their current practice areas and availability.

41 firms

FirmBismarck, ND

Zimmerman Law, P.C.

Bismarck firm with a second office in Napoleon, serving all of North Dakota. Probate and estate administration covers inventories and accountings, federal and state estate tax returns, and property transfer deeds, with in-house accounting so an executor gets the estate accounting and the final return from one office.

PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax PlanningBusiness Succession

Office: 919 S. 7th St., Suite 607Bismarck, ND 58504
Phone: (701) 224-1519

Free consultation

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Hiring a Trust Administration Attorney in North Dakota

North Dakota follows the reasonable-compensation standard for trustees. A court decides what is reasonable case by case, on the trust's size, its complexity and the trustee's actual work. A family-member trustee often waives the fee. A professional trustee (a bank, a trust company, an attorney) typically charges 0.5% to 1.5% of trust assets a year, and a corporate fiduciary applies an annual minimum. The North Dakota trustee compensation calculator breaks it down by trust situation.

Trust administration in North Dakota is typically faster than probate because a trust needs no court supervision. There is no court-supervised creditor period — the trustee distributes once known debts are settled, subject to North Dakota's general limitations period. A simple trust often wraps up in six to nine months; a trust holding a business interest, real property in more than one state, or one that files an estate tax return takes longer. The North Dakota trust settlement plan carries the full process.

Estate planning attorneys in North Dakota average $319 an hour for wills and estates work. A flat-fee package runs $957 to $1,914 for a simple individual will and $3,540 to $5,310 for a basic revocable trust. An online service prices the same documents in the tens to low hundreds of dollars; the North Dakota will cost calculator sets the two side by side.

In North Dakota, estates valued at $100,000 or less skip probate with the Small Estate Affidavit, 30 days after death. That route is a form rather than a court case, and most families handle it without an attorney. Above the line, formal probate generally benefits from counsel for the procedural work, even when nothing is contested. The North Dakota probate calculator estimates the cost by estate value.

In North Dakota, the situations where counsel is typically worth the cost are: a blended family with children from a prior relationship; a business, rental property or significant investment assets; a dependent with special needs, who needs a special-needs trust to keep benefits; substantial property in more than one state. Where none of these apply, an online or self-help document is often enough.

Trust Administration Attorneys in North Dakota

Trust administration in North Dakota happens privately, without court supervision. The successor trustee handles the 3 months creditor period, distributes assets according to the trust terms, and is compensated under the reasonable-compensation standard. A family-member trustee often waives the fee; a professional trustee typically charges a percentage of trust assets a year.

Estate planning attorneys in North Dakota charge $319 per hour for wills work. A simple will done through an attorney typically runs $957–$1,914; online services cost $30–$300 for the same document.

North Dakota runs a conventional probate system, so the decision to hire an attorney usually comes down to general factors: blended families, business ownership, special-needs dependents, or property in multiple states. If none of those apply, simpler tools are often enough.

Worth knowing: estates under $100,000 can use North Dakota's simplified affidavit instead of formal probate. If your situation is straightforward and the estate fits, you may not need an attorney at all.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated September 18, 2026

Legal Sources

Data sourced from North Dakota statutes and official state code. How we research.

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