Any licensed attorney can legally draft a will for you, so the real question behind “can any lawyer do a will” is whether any lawyer should do yours. No state restricts will preparation to specialists, and a general practitioner who mostly handles personal injury or criminal defense can produce a document that meets the legal requirements. Whether that document actually accomplishes what you want is a different question, and the answer depends almost entirely on how complicated your estate and family look.
When a General Practitioner Is Enough
For a single person with a bank account, a car, and no dependents, almost any competent attorney can draft a serviceable will. The core requirements are straightforward enough that a lawyer who doesn’t live in this area day to day can still meet them. Same goes for a young couple with modest assets, no children from prior relationships, and no business interests.
Where generalists tend to run into trouble is in the questions they don’t think to ask. Asset titling that quietly conflicts with the will. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance that override whatever the will says. Tax consequences that a different document structure could have avoided. If none of those issues apply to you, a generalist is a reasonable choice.
When You Need an Estate Planning Specialist
The situations below are where generalist drafting starts creating real risk, and where the money saved on the front end often costs your heirs much more later.
- Blended families. Children from a prior relationship combined with a current spouse create interactions between spousal rights and children’s inheritance that a generalist may not navigate well. The result can be your spouse and children fighting it out in probate court.
- Business ownership. Passing a business interest through a will without accounting for buy-sell agreements, entity structure, or valuation creates chaos for surviving partners and heirs.
- A disabled beneficiary. Leaving assets directly to someone who receives Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid can disqualify them from those benefits. An estate planning attorney knows to use a special needs trust that preserves eligibility.
- A potentially taxable estate. The 2026 federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 per person, so most estates owe no federal tax. But some states impose their own estate or inheritance taxes at much lower thresholds, with a few starting above $1,000,000. If your estate approaches either line, a specialist can structure the plan to shrink the tax bill through trusts and gifting.1Internal Revenue Service. What’s New — Estate and Gift Tax
- Real estate in more than one state. Owning property across state lines can trigger probate in each state. A specialist can advise on titling or trust structures that avoid duplicate proceedings.
- Charitable giving goals. Leaving a significant portion of your estate to charity while still providing for family requires tax and structural planning that benefits from someone who does it regularly.
- Coordinating with trusts and other documents. A will works alongside trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and beneficiary designations. Specialists treat all of these as one plan. Generalists often treat the will as a standalone document, which is where coordination errors creep in.
What “Specialist” Actually Means
Estate planning attorneys work in this area daily. They know how wills interact with trusts and beneficiary designations to form a coherent plan, and they stay current on changes to tax law and probate procedure. Several states, including California, Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina, offer formal board certification in estate planning and probate law, which signals that an attorney has passed additional examinations and demonstrated substantial experience beyond basic licensure.2American Bar Association. State Sources of Certification Plenty of excellent estate planning lawyers don’t carry board certification, so its absence isn’t a red flag. But where it exists, it’s a reliable confirmation of specialized knowledge.
The specialist’s advantage shows up in small details that a generalist might skip. One example: a self-proving affidavit attached to the will, which lets the document be accepted in probate without pulling the witnesses into court years later to testify. Nearly every state recognizes self-proving affidavits, and an estate planning attorney will include one automatically.3Legal Information Institute. Self-Proving Will
Online Will Services as a Third Option
Online will platforms are the cheapest route, often under $200, and you can complete them from home. For very simple situations they can produce a document that meets basic legal requirements. The limitations are worth understanding before you rely on one.
Online templates are generic. They can’t ask follow-up questions the way an attorney would, and most don’t tailor documents to your state’s specific probate rules. If your situation has any wrinkle, like a child with special needs, property in another state, or a family member you want to disinherit, the template may produce a document that doesn’t accomplish what you intended or that’s vulnerable to challenge. These services also typically don’t help you coordinate the will with beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies, which is where a lot of estate plans quietly fail.
Treat online services as a reasonable starting point for someone young and healthy with a simple estate and straightforward wishes. The moment your financial or family picture gets complicated, the savings on the front end tend to show up as larger costs during probate.
What a Lawyer Charges to Draft a Will
Attorney fees for will preparation fall into two models. Most estate planning attorneys charge a flat fee for straightforward wills, generally $300 to $1,000 depending on complexity and location. Hourly billing for estate work typically runs $100 to $400 per hour, with a simple will taking two to four hours. A comprehensive estate plan with trusts can run $1,500 to $5,000 or more.
Ask about the fee structure during your initial consultation. Many attorneys bundle the will with a power of attorney and healthcare directive at a package rate, which is almost always a better deal than paying for each document separately. Consultations are sometimes free; some attorneys charge a modest fee and credit it toward drafting costs if you hire them.
How to Choose the Right Lawyer
Start with experience that matches your situation. An attorney who primarily handles high-net-worth clients may not be the right fit for a modest estate, and vice versa. Ask how many wills and estate plans the attorney has drafted in the past year, and whether they’ve handled situations like yours, whether that’s a blended family, a business succession, or a disabled beneficiary.
Pay attention to how the attorney communicates. Estate planning forces decisions about uncomfortable topics, and you need someone who explains options in plain language. If you leave the initial consultation confused, that’s a problem. Your wishes only get translated accurately into the documents when you and the attorney actually understand each other.
Ask whether the attorney carries professional liability insurance. Most states don’t require it, and estate planning is one of the practice areas most prone to malpractice claims, often because drafting errors don’t surface until years later when the person who signed the will is no longer alive to clarify intent. An insured attorney gives your heirs a path to recovery if something goes wrong. Some states require uninsured attorneys to disclose that fact in writing.
Finally, ask about document storage. Many attorneys retain original signed wills in secure storage, which matters because a lost or destroyed original can create a legal presumption that you revoked the will. Know where the original lives, and make sure your executor knows too.
The Short Version
Any licensed attorney can draft a legally valid will. If your estate and family are simple, a trusted generalist can do the job. If you have a blended family, own a business, have a disabled beneficiary, own property in multiple states, have charitable goals, or have an estate that could face state or federal estate tax, hire a lawyer who does estate planning as their main practice. The extra cost is small compared to what gets lost when a complicated estate meets a document that wasn’t built for it.