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How Much Does a Will Cost? 4 Approaches + Cost Factors
Get the legal advice you need without the hourly legal fees
Creating or updating a Will is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your legacy and ensure that your final wishes are fulfilled. While the cost of a Will certainly matters, the value is something you’ll want to think about as well.
Sure, a Will is important, but aren’t they expensive? There are four different ways you can approach drafting a Will, and some options are more budget-friendly than you might realize. Creating your Will is also not something you can do once and then forget about.
Keep reading to discover how you can make a Will work while staying on budget.
Cost of a Will breakdown
Think carefully before you go with the free route to something as important as estate planning. Cost matters, but what is a Will worth if it doesn’t hold up in court? LegalShield is an excellent balance between quality and cost. You get a lawyer-drafted Will as part of your monthly subscription.
DIY free service
If cost is your top concern, you can get a do-it-yourself Will kit. This could be right for families with very basic estate planning needs, but it may have limitations — for example, the form may not be customizable.
DIY kits also can’t account for the different guidelines each state has adopted, and those rules can differ significantly. Even those with small estates may find that estate planning is too complex for one of these templates.
Online services
Another cost-effective approach is to use an on-demand online platform to draft your Will. These websites usually generate a simple Will after you complete a questionnaire. There are many services to choose from, and they typically cost between $100 and $300.
These online services may not always be able to address complex issues or produce personalized documents that meet your needs. They may work well for individuals with straightforward estates who want more support than a DIY form provides, but they can’t match the help of a lawyer.
Traditional lawyer
Lawyers often charge a flat fee for creating a Will, which can range from $300 to $1,000 or more. A lawyer can provide you with a customized Will that fits your needs and takes into account risks you might not be aware of. This approach is the best way to ensure that your wishes are clearly expressed and binding. Wills have more importance in estate planning than people expect, and a lawyer can help you navigate contingencies, Trusts, and other complexities.
Robust legal service subscription
LegalShield combines the affordability of Do-It-Yourself solutions with the reliability of a professional lawyer. Through your subscription, you can have your Will drafted or updated to your specifications. You can choose from three Personal Plans, each with different services related to your Will:
- Basic ($39.95/month) - Wills, Living Wills, and Powers of Attorney created by a lawyer
- Advanced ($49.95/month) - Basic services plus annual Will updates
- Premium ($59.95/month) - Basic and Advanced services plus establishing a Trust
What factors affect how much it costs to make a Will?
Some of the factors that impact the cost of a Will include the following:
Estate complexity
Your specific needs can increase or decrease the cost of your Will. For example, the average cost of a simple Will is lower for someone with limited assets. The same is not true for estates with extensive assets or real estate in different parts of the country. There are also certain assets that are more difficult to pass down than others, like commercial real estate, business ownership, or cryptocurrency.
Your family
The more beneficiaries you want to include, the more detail your Will might need. Blended families add a layer of complexity, as you may need to take additional steps to protect children from a previous marriage. If you need to name guardians for minor beneficiaries or create Trusts in your Will, you'll likely need more than a template.
Expanded estate planning
When you move beyond a standalone Will and begin building a more complete estate plan, the overall price naturally goes up. Having a lawyer include options like a revocable living Trust can also raise the total cost.
Similarly, the average Last Will and Testament cost can go up when you begin adding additional documents like a Power of Attorney (POA). The average cost of a Will and POA is more than a Will alone, so a coordinated estate plan might be your best option.
Can you legally make your own Will?
If you'd like, you can create your own Will. However, although the law might allow you to create a Will, the courts will hold you to the same standard as they would a lawyer. You may be out of luck if you draft a Will that isn’t valid.
Risks and consequences of an invalid Will
The primary risk of creating your own Will is that a single mistake could frustrate the entire purpose of your estate plan. Having a valid Will is important, especially one that can stand up to challenges in court.
If a Will has issues, a probate court might not accept it. We asked Michael Fiffik at Fiffik Law Group about what that means for families:
“If a Will is not accepted for probate for a defect of some kind, it presents the family with two choices.
The first choice is to commence a probate without the Will in accordance with the laws of intestate succession. Although this will result in the probate commencing sooner, the costs are that the decedent's plan (as set forth in their Will) is set aside in favor of the government's default plan. This could significantly impact the identity of the beneficiaries to the estate and their respective shares in the estate.
The second choice would be to either work to address the defect (sometimes relatively insignificant) or to commence a court proceeding to challenge the refusal to accept the Will for probate. Each of these results in a delay in administering the estate and the court proceeding will require significant expenditure of legal fees that, if the effort is unsuccessful, will not be reimbursed by the estate.”
In some cases, a Will might be contested. This means that someone claiming a legitimate legal standing in the estate believes the Will is invalid or improper in some way. Fiffik said this about contested Wills:
“Court proceedings are traumatic fights often between family members which is the last thing anyone wants to occur as a result of their death.”
Help protect your legacy with LegalShield
It's helpful to think of the cost of Will as an investment rather than an expense. The benefits in the future can make the cost worthwhile. Having the right estate planning documents in place can protect your legacy.
There are options available for every budget, including a LegalShield personal legal plan. If you are ready to take the next step, consider the options available through a LegalShield Membership.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can draft your own Will without spending any money at all, either writing it out by hand or using a free template you can find online.
The biggest mistake you can make with a Will is not having one. If you have a Will in place, it is crucial that you continue to update it after major life changes, such as marriages or births.
The average cost of a simple Will typically ranges from $100 to $300 through online services, while the cost of making a Will with a lawyer usually runs between $300 to $1,000 or more. With a LegalShield Membership, a provider lawyer can prepare your Will as part of your plan for a low monthly fee.
If you update your Will, you will replace your old one with a new one, which could cost the same or even more, depending on the complexity of your changes. There are many reasons why you may need to update your Will.
Get the Answers You Need, When You Need Them
Author
Elyse Dillard
Content Specialist at LegalShield
Content Specialist at LegalShield, creating educational resources about legal and consumer protection topics. She focuses on making complex legal and financial concepts accessible to readers and has contributed to various educational articles on consumer rights and protections.
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