How Much Does a Will Cost in Illinois?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 11, 2026 Updated September 23, 2026 6 min read

Quick answer

No Illinois law sets what a will costs, and we found no published source for Illinois will-drafting prices as of September 2026 that is not a law firm, an online document seller, or a site paid to refer customers to one. What Illinois law does set is below. Illinois does **not** recognize handwritten (holographic) wills, so the two-witness signing is required. And a will directs your estate through probate rather than avoiding it — and Illinois sets a threshold above which formal probate applies, which a house alone usually clears.

⚠️ Educational information only — not legal, tax, or financial advice.

The figures on this page are the ones a statute or a named, dated publisher sets. Laws, fees, thresholds, and prices differ by state and change often, and your own situation may change the result. Before you act, confirm the current numbers and rules for Illinois with a licensed professional — an attorney, tax advisor, or licensed agent as appropriate. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship.

What a will costs in Illinois

We found no published source for this figure as of September 2026. The Illinois will prices that are published come from law firms, online document sellers, or sites paid to refer customers to them. None is an independent publisher, so none is cited here.

No Illinois statute sets what a will costs to draft. Illinois law sets how a will must be executed to be valid, and what the court charges to probate it — neither fixes a drafting fee.

What the court charges

The deadline the fee buys into

What makes a will valid in Illinois

An Illinois will must be signed by you and attested by two credible witnesses in your presence (755 ILCS 5/4-3).

EPTL §3-2.1(a)(1)(C) provides that a person who signs the testator’s name for the testator must sign their own name and affix their address, and is not counted as one of the necessary attesting witnesses.

Can you write your own will by hand in Illinois?

Illinois does not recognize holographic (handwritten, unwitnessed) wills. An Illinois will must be signed by you and by two witnesses (755 ILCS 5/4-3).

EPTL §3-2.2(a)(2) defines a holographic will as one written entirely in the testator’s handwriting and not executed and attested under the §3-2.1 formalities.

The self-proving affidavit

Illinois allows a will to be made self-proving with a notarized attestation, so the witnesses generally don't have to appear at probate.

Without it, the attesting witnesses may be called to testify to the execution when the will is offered for probate. SCPA §1406(1) is what removes that step, by letting the court accept their sworn affidavit instead.

What a will does not do in Illinois

A will directs an estate through probate; it does not remove assets from it. A will tells the Illinois probate court who receives what and who administers the estate. Property governed by the will still passes through probate — the court-supervised, public process.

The cost of the document and the cost of probate are therefore separate figures. For what probate itself costs in Illinois, see How Much Does Probate Cost in Illinois?.

What passes outside probate in Illinois

Assets transfer outside probate only by operation of law or contract, regardless of what a will says. The recognised mechanisms are:

Beneficiary designations — retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts pass to the named beneficiary.
Joint ownership with right of survivorship — passes to the surviving owner.
Transfer-on-death instruments, where Illinois authorises them.
Assets titled into a funded living trust.

A will has no effect on any asset transferred by these routes. For the Illinois figures on the trust alternative, see How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Illinois?, and for the documented differences between the two instruments, Will vs. Trust: How They Differ.

What affects the price in Illinois

We found no published source for Illinois will-drafting prices as of September 2026, so this page states no range and no price drivers. The prices on this page that are fixed by law are the court’s, above, with the statute that fixes them cited there.

What the record shows

Item	Illinois
Price of a will	Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026
Governing statutes	755 ILCS 5/4-3 (signing and witnessing)
State authority	Illinois Courts (illinoiscourts.gov)

A will directs an estate through probate and does not remove assets from it. Execution requirements, the treatment of handwritten wills, the self-proving affidavit, the court’s own fee schedule and the claim period are set out above with their statutory citations. No figure is published here for what a will costs to draft: we found no independent published source as of September 2026.

Will costs in other states

Compare Illinois with what a will costs in other states:

How to Write a Will (and What Makes It Valid) — the full step-by-step.
Do I Need a Will? — what happens under intestacy when there is none.
How Much Does a Will Cost with a Lawyer? — the national cost picture.
How Much Does Probate Cost in Illinois? — the separate cost of probate itself.
How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Illinois? — the instrument that holds assets outside probate.

This page sets out what Illinois law fixes about making a will and probating it, as of September 2026. It is not legal advice; statutes and figures change and depend on your situation. Confirm current rules with a licensed Illinois attorney. It states no drafting price, because we found no independent published source for one. Sources: Illinois Courts (illinoiscourts.gov); 755 ILCS 5/4-3 (signing and witnessing).

Related guides

What Happens If You Die Without a Will by State

Do I Need a Will? What a Will Does and What Intestacy Does

How Much Does a Will Cost with a Lawyer?