Educational guide — not legal advice. This page states no price: we found no independent published source for one.
What this page states, and what it does not
No statute anywhere in the US sets what a will costs to draft. Drafting a will is legal work, priced by the person or company doing it.
We found no published source for attorney charges as of September 2026 that is not a law firm, an online document seller, or a site paid to refer customers to one. None is an independent publisher, so none is cited here, and this page states no price for any route.
What the law does set
Four things, all of them state law, and all of them documented state by state with the statute cited:
| What each state’s page documents, cited to that state’s statute | Where |
|---|---|
| Attesting witnesses | Will Cost by State — each state’s page |
| Handwritten (holographic) wills: recognised or not, and on what conditions | The same pages |
| Self-proving affidavits: available or not, and their effect at probate | The same pages |
| Court fees on probating the will | Probate Cost by State and the per-state fee sheets |
Those requirements are set by the signer’s state and are documented, with the statute cited, on that state’s page. They do not vary with who drafted the document.
What differs between the routes
What changes between an attorney, an online service and a DIY template is what is included:
| Route | What is included |
|---|---|
| Attorney | The engagement letter states the scope. It commonly covers the will and may cover a financial power of attorney, a healthcare directive, and the execution ceremony with witnesses and a notary. |
| Online service | The documents the service’s own terms list. Execution — finding witnesses, signing correctly, any notarisation — is the purchaser’s to arrange. |
| DIY template | The document alone. Drafting and execution are the purchaser’s responsibility. |
The execution requirements documented on each state’s page apply to all three routes alike.
What fixes a price in practice
Nothing in law. In an attorney engagement, the written engagement letter states the fee and the scope before work begins; that document, not any published table, is what states the price of a specific matter.
What the record shows
No statute sets what a will costs to draft, and no independent publisher reports a figure we could cite, so this page states none. What the record does contain is each state’s execution statute, each state’s court fee, and the fact that the statute applies the same way however the document was produced.
Related reading
- Will Cost by State — the execution statute and court fee for all 50 states
- How to Write a Will and What Makes It Valid
- Will vs. Trust: How They Differ
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost?
- What Is Probate and How Does It Work?
Educational information only — not legal advice. This page states no price: no statute sets one and we found no independent published source as of September 2026. Execution requirements and court fees are state law and are cited on each state’s page.