The Only Living Trust Reaches 100,000 Copies Sold as Probate Costs Force Middle-Class Families to Rethink Estate Planning

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Garrett Monroe's #1-ranked personal finance book hits a major milestone by giving everyday Americans the legal tools to protect their families without hiring an attorney.
Livermore, United States - October 02, 2026 - Garrett Monroe's The Only Living Trust has surpassed 100,000 copies sold, making it one of the most widely used DIY estate planning resources in the United States. The book teaches homeowners, parents, and retirees how to create a legally valid living trust in plain English, using 12 attorney-drafted templates, with no prior legal knowledge required.

Key Takeaways

The Only Living Trust has crossed 100,000 copies sold, reaching families across every state who want probate protection without paying attorney rates According to the 2023 Gallup Estate Planning Survey, 68% of American adults have no will or trust in place The Federal Reserve's 2023 Survey of Consumer Finances documents $140 trillion in U.S. household wealth, much of it held by families with no legal protection against probate The American Bar Association estimates probate regularly consumes 3% to 8% of an estate's gross value in fees and court costs before heirs receive anything The book is best suited for homeowners, working parents, and retirees with straightforward family structures; estates involving significant business holdings or contested family situations may benefit from additional legal review

What Does "100,000 Copies Sold" Actually Mean for American Families?

It means 100,000 families now have a legal structure around their assets that didn't exist before they opened this book.

That number matters because the alternative is stark. The 2023 Gallup Estate Planning Survey found that 68% of American adults have no estate plan in place. That figure has barely shifted in a decade, even as homeownership rates have climbed and an estimated $84 trillion in generational wealth transfer is already underway. Millions of families are carrying real assets, homes, retirement accounts, savings, and personal property, with no legal document that protects those assets from going through probate court.

A living trust is a legal document that transfers your assets into a trust during your lifetime, which means those assets bypass probate court entirely when you pass. Your heirs don't wait for a judge. They don't pay court fees. They don't navigate a process that can take anywhere from nine months to two years to resolve. They simply receive what you intended them to have, on your terms.

That's the core of what The Only Living Trust delivers, and it's why the 100,000-copy milestone isn't just a publishing statistic. It represents a measurable shift in how ordinary Americans are approaching a problem that the traditional legal industry spent decades making feel out of reach.

What Makes The Only Living Trust Different From Other DIY Options?

Most estate planning resources either oversimplify to the point of being legally unreliable, or they're written by attorneys for attorneys and require a law dictionary to follow.

The Only Living Trust was written from a different premise: that the primary obstacle to estate planning isn't legal complexity, it's the language used to describe it. Monroe's methodology strips out the jargon, walks readers through each step in the order they'd actually encounter it, and provides 12 attorney-drafted templates that cover the complete document package a living trust requires.

Those templates include the trust declaration, pour-over will, healthcare directive, durable power of attorney, and asset transfer instruments. Readers don't customize legal language they don't understand. They follow clear instructions, fill in the relevant information, and end up with a document package built to hold up in court.

Practitioners who work with self-directed estate planning tools consistently report that their clients' biggest obstacle isn't the documents themselves. It's the belief that they aren't qualified to complete them. The Only Living Trust is designed specifically to dismantle that belief, because the belief is wrong.

Who Is This Book Right For?

The Only Living Trust is best suited for homeowners, working parents, and retirees who want to protect their assets and their families without paying attorney rates. Specifically, it's designed for people with straightforward estate structures: a primary residence, retirement accounts, savings, investments, and a clear sense of who should inherit what.

Ideal readers include:

Homeowners who want to ensure their property transfers directly to heirs without probate court involvement Parents, including those in blended families, who need a legal framework to protect minor or adult children Retirees managing 401(k)s, IRAs, or other retirement assets who want those accounts to pass cleanly to beneficiaries Business owners with personal estates they want to separate and protect from business liability exposure

One honest note worth stating clearly: The Only Living Trust is designed for straightforward estate situations. Families dealing with contested inheritances, significant business equity, trusts involving special needs beneficiaries, or high-net-worth estates with complex tax considerations may benefit from consulting an attorney in addition to using the book. The goal isn't to replace every attorney conversation that ever existed. The goal is to make sure that the 68% of Americans who currently have nothing in place can build real legal protection without waiting for the perfect moment or the right budget.

A Note From the Author

"A will tells the court what you wanted," says Monroe. "A trust tells your heirs what they already own. That's not a small distinction. That's the difference between a family that spends a year in court and a family that doesn't spend a day there. I wrote this book because that difference shouldn't cost $3,000 in legal fees to understand."

About The Only Living Trust (Author: Garrett Monroe)

The Only Living Trust by Garrett Monroe is a #1-ranked personal finance book that teaches Americans how to build a legally valid living trust without hiring an attorney. The book includes 12 attorney-drafted templates and step-by-step plain-English instructions covering every document a complete estate plan requires. With more than 100,000 copies sold, it's one of the most widely used DIY estate planning resources in the country. Garrett Monroe's work is available at garrettmonroebooks.com.
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