Updating a will usually costs between $50 and $1,000, and can run higher when the changes are complex. A quick swap of an executor with an attorney might land around $200 to $500. An online codicil template can be under $50. A full rewrite that touches trusts, tax planning, or blended-family issues can push past $1,200. Three things move the number: whether you hire a lawyer or use a DIY service, how much of the document is actually changing, and where you live.
What Attorneys Charge
Estate planning attorneys bill for will updates two ways: a flat fee or an hourly rate.
Flat fees for a simple amendment or a basic new will generally run $300 to $1,000. That covers reviewing your existing documents, drafting the changes, and making sure the execution meets your state’s requirements. A bundled estate plan — will plus powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and trust documents — typically runs $2,000 to $5,000 or more.
Hourly billing is more common for complicated updates. Rates fall roughly between $150 and $400 an hour, with wide variation by experience and location. Creating a testamentary trust, sorting out inheritance in a blended family, or restructuring how assets pass to minor children can eat several hours at those rates.
Geography matters more than most people expect. An attorney in Manhattan or San Francisco may charge twice what a comparable lawyer charges in a mid-size Midwestern city for the same work. If your situation is straightforward, expanding your search radius or asking about virtual consultations can cut the bill meaningfully.
Cost isn’t the only reason to pick a lawyer. If your estate involves business interests, a special needs beneficiary, significant assets, or tax planning, the fee buys judgment that DIY tools don’t provide.
Online and DIY Options
Online will platforms are the cheapest route. A basic will typically starts at $50 to $150. A bundle that includes a healthcare directive and powers of attorney generally runs $150 to $250. Some services sell standalone codicil templates for under $50.
These tools work well when the estate is simple: a home, some savings and retirement accounts, and a plan to leave everything to a spouse or children with no conditions attached. You answer a questionnaire and it generates the document. Where they fall short is anything that calls for judgment — tax planning, special needs trusts, conditional bequests, or estates that hold a business. The questionnaire can only catch issues it was built to catch.
Several platforms sell optional attorney consultations, often starting around $20 per month or a few hundred dollars as a one-time fee. That hybrid can be a reasonable middle ground for a modest update. For genuinely complex situations, hiring an attorney from the start tends to produce a better result at a lower total cost than paying to fix DIY documents later.
If money is tight, check whether local legal aid organizations, law school clinics, or bar association pro bono programs handle wills. Eligibility varies, but these programs sometimes help seniors, veterans, and low-income residents at no cost.
Codicil or a New Will?
Two legal options exist for changing an existing will: add a codicil, or draft a new will that revokes the old one. The choice affects both cost and risk.
Codicil
A codicil is a supplement that amends specific parts of your will without replacing it.1LII / Legal Information Institute. Codicil – Wex – US Law It’s the right tool for a single, isolated change — naming a new executor, adjusting one bequest, or correcting a beneficiary’s legal name. Attorney-prepared codicils typically cost $200 to $500. The work is faster because only one provision is being touched.
The trade-off is that a codicil is a separate document. It has to be stored alongside the will and presented with it at probate. If they get separated, or if the codicil’s language conflicts with the original in ways nobody notices at signing, the confusion lands on your executor. Stack two or three codicils on top of each other and probate courts can genuinely struggle to reconcile them. That’s when saving money with a codicil starts costing more than a fresh will would have.
New Will
A new will is the better path when you’re making several changes at once, when your family structure has shifted, or when a codicil or two is already in place. Executing a new will revokes all previous versions and codicils, leaving your executor one clean document to work from.1LII / Legal Information Institute. Codicil – Wex – US Law
Attorney fees for a new will start around $300 for a straightforward estate and can exceed $1,200 for complex ones. Online platforms run $50 to $250. The extra upfront cost buys clarity: no risk of conflicting instructions, no missing codicil, no puzzle for the probate court.
Your new will should include an express clause revoking all prior wills. Some attorneys also recommend physically destroying the old document to remove any chance of someone producing it later.
Execution Costs People Forget
Drafting is only part of the bill. A will has to be executed properly to be legally valid, and execution carries its own small costs.
Witnesses
You must sign the will in front of at least two witnesses, who then sign it themselves.2Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. Wills – Signature Requirement Witnesses generally cost nothing — most people use friends, neighbors, or the attorney’s office staff. Hired witnesses, sometimes needed for homebound signers, run around $25 per person.
One practical rule: don’t use beneficiaries as witnesses. In many states, a beneficiary who also witnesses the will can lose their bequest, even though the will itself stays valid. Disinterested witnesses avoid the problem entirely.
Notarization
Notarization isn’t required in most states, but it’s almost always worth doing. A notary lets you attach a self-proving affidavit, a sworn statement that lets the probate court accept the will without calling your witnesses to testify later. Years down the road, when witnesses have moved or died, that affidavit saves your estate real time and expense.
Notary fees are set by state law, generally $2 to $25 per signature. Banks, shipping stores, and attorney offices often include notarization for free or a nominal fee. Mobile notaries who come to a home or hospital cost more — budget $50 to $150 depending on distance and time of day.
What an Outdated Will Costs Instead
The math on updating a will only makes sense when you compare it to the cost of not updating.
Probate expenses typically run 3% to 8% of an estate’s total value. On a $500,000 estate, that’s $15,000 to $40,000 in court fees, attorney fees, executor compensation, appraisals, and other administrative costs. An outdated will — one naming a deceased executor, a former spouse as beneficiary, or handling assets that no longer exist — makes probate slower and more expensive because the court has to fix problems the will should have addressed.
Will contests are where costs really escalate. When family members believe a will doesn’t reflect the deceased’s true intentions, or when ambiguous language leaves room for competing readings, litigation can cost $15,000 to $30,000 for a straightforward dispute and $50,000 to $100,000 or more for a complex one. Those fees come out of the estate.
If a will is found invalid, or so outdated that key provisions fail, the estate may pass through intestacy, meaning state law decides who gets what. A $300 to $1,000 update looks cheap next to that outcome.
When an Update Is Worth Paying For
Certain life events should trigger a review regardless of how recently you signed:
- Marriage or divorce. Most states automatically alter parts of a will after a divorce, but the default rules rarely match what you’d actually want.
- Birth or adoption of a child. A child not named in the will may have limited rights under state intestacy law that don’t reflect your wishes.
- Death of a beneficiary or executor. If someone named in the will dies before you, the provision may lapse depending on state law and whether you named a backup.
- Major financial changes. Buying or selling property, receiving an inheritance, starting or closing a business, or taking on significant debt all change what the will needs to address.
- Moving to a different state. Execution requirements vary, and a local attorney review closes any gaps.
The 2026 Estate Tax Change
The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, set the federal estate tax basic exclusion amount at $15,000,000 for 2026.3Internal Revenue Service. What’s New — Estate and Gift Tax Estates below $15 million ($30 million for married couples using portability) owe no federal estate tax. If your current will contains tax-minimization structures built around older, lower exemption amounts, they may no longer be necessary and could produce unintended consequences — funding a bypass trust that isn’t needed, for example, and reducing what your surviving spouse can access. Attorney review in this area sits on the higher end of the fee scale, but the cost of getting the tax planning wrong is much larger.