How Much Does a Will Cost in 2026?

The price of a will ranges from free to several thousand dollars, and the spread confuses people into either overpaying or — far more common — doing nothing. Here’s what each option really costs, what you get for it, and the cost most people forget to count: what your family pays later if the document isn’t done right.

Attorney-drafted: $300–$3,500+

Most estate attorneys charge flat fees. A simple individual will commonly runs $300–$1,000 depending on your market; a couple’s package with powers of attorney and healthcare directives typically $1,000–$2,500; add a revocable living trust and you’re usually at $1,500–$3,500 or more. Hourly billing ($200–$500/hr) appears when situations get complex.

What you’re buying is judgment: an attorney is worth every dollar when something about your situation is genuinely hard — a child with special needs whose inheritance could break benefit eligibility, a contentious family where a contest is likely, business succession, taxable-estate planning, or international property.

Online platforms: $40–$250

Guided online services occupy the middle: structured interviews, state-specific documents, and update mechanisms, without the judgment of counsel. Pricing models differ more than the documents do — some charge per document, some subscribe you annually, some charge extra for each “premium” item like a trust. Compare on three questions:

• Is the complete set included — will, trust, both powers of attorney, living will, HIPAA — or priced piecemeal?
• Are updates included, and for how long? A will is not a one-time purchase; it’s a document you’ll revise after every major life event.
• Do you see the documents before paying? (With Plan Your After, building is free; $149 finalizes all six documents with a year of unlimited updates, then $19/year — and a spouse’s full set is a one-time $79 add-on.)

DIY templates: $0–$100

Stationery-store forms and downloadable templates are cheap for a reason: nothing checks your work. The classic failures aren’t in the writing — they’re in the execution and the edge cases: a witness who is also a beneficiary, a missing residuary clause so leftover property falls to intestacy, an outdated form that doesn’t match your state’s requirements, no coordination with beneficiary designations. The document looks fine on the shelf; the defects surface at probate, when correction is no longer possible.

“Free,” as in doing nothing

The most expensive option is usually the default one. Dying without a will means intestate probate: a court-appointed administrator (often bonded, at the estate’s expense), heirs determined by statute rather than by you, a judge choosing your children’s guardian, and a slower, costlier process — commonly 3–7% of the estate consumed by administration. Against that baseline, every option above is cheap.

The real comparison

Don’t forget the signing costs

Whatever you pay for drafting, budget a few practical dollars for execution: notarization of the self-proving affidavit (often $5–$15 per signature, sometimes free at your bank), and — in every state — two adult witnesseswho don’t inherit under the will. A will that was never properly signed is, legally, not a will at all — which is why the drafting price matters less than whether the process gets you all the way to a correctly executed document in your hands.