How Much Does a Will Cost in Mississippi?

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 Mississippi law sets what a will costs, and we found no published source for Mississippi 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 Mississippi law does set is below. Mississippi recognizes handwritten (holographic) wills. A will directs an estate through probate rather than avoiding it. It directs your estate through Mississippi probate, it doesn't skip it. If avoiding probate is the goal, that's a living-trust question.

⚠️ 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 Mississippi 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 Mississippi

We found no published source for this figure as of September 2026. The Mississippi 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 Mississippi statute sets what a will costs to draft. Mississippi 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 Mississippi

A Mississippi will that is not wholly handwritten must be signed by the testator and attested by two or more credible witnesses in the testator's presence (Miss. Code §91-5-1).

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 Mississippi?

Mississippi DOES recognize holographic (handwritten) wills — a will 'wholly written and subscribed' in the testator's own handwriting is valid with no witnesses (Miss. Code §91-5-1). Any will not wholly handwritten must be witnessed.

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

Mississippi allows a will's execution to be proved by affidavits of the subscribing witnesses (Miss. Code §91-7-7 and §91-7-9), and holographic wills can be authenticated by affidavit under §91-7-10, so the witnesses generally don't have to appear in an uncontested case.

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 Mississippi

A will directs an estate through probate; it does not remove assets from it. A will tells the Mississippi 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 Mississippi, see How Much Does Probate Cost in Mississippi?.

What passes outside probate in Mississippi

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 Mississippi authorises them.
Assets titled into a funded living trust.

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

What affects the price in Mississippi

We found no published source for Mississippi 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	Mississippi
Price of a will	Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026
Governing statutes	Miss. Code §91-5-1 (who may execute a will; witnesses; holographic wills); Miss. Code §91-7-7 (proof of due execution of will)
State authority	Mississippi Judiciary / Mississippi Code (law.justia.com)

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 Mississippi 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 Mississippi? — the separate cost of probate itself.
How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Mississippi? — the instrument that holds assets outside probate.

This page sets out what Mississippi 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 Mississippi attorney. It states no drafting price, because we found no independent published source for one. Sources: Mississippi Judiciary / Mississippi Code (law.justia.com); Miss. Code §91-5-1 (who may execute a will; witnesses; holographic wills), Miss. Code §91-7-7 (proof of due execution of will).

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?