Getting a power of attorney costs anywhere from nothing to several hundred dollars for the document itself, and the full price depends on how you have it drafted. So how much does it cost to get a power of attorney in practice? A free state statutory form costs $0, an online legal service runs about $35 to $150, and an attorney typically charges $250 to $500 for a standard document. On top of that, plan for small notary and possible recording fees, and if you name a professional agent instead of a family member, their hourly rate becomes an ongoing expense.
Attorney Fees for Drafting
Most attorneys charge a flat fee for a straightforward power of attorney, usually $250 to $500, with the average around $300. That price covers a consultation, the drafting, and a review session where the attorney walks you through what you’re signing. A financial POA and a healthcare POA are generally priced as separate documents, though many lawyers will quote a combined rate if you ask.
Hourly billing shows up when the situation is more complicated. Family and probate lawyers generally charge $250 to $350 per hour. Elder law specialists run $200 to $500 per hour depending on experience and location. Business owners, people with property in more than one state, and anyone granting unusually tailored authority to an agent tend to land at the higher end.
If you already know you need a will or trust, ask about a package. A bundled estate plan with a will, trust, financial POA, and healthcare directive typically costs $2,000 to $5,000 or more, and that’s almost always cheaper than buying each document on its own.
Online Legal Services
Online legal platforms sell power of attorney documents for roughly $35 to $150. Some charge a one-time fee per document; others fold the POA into a monthly or annual subscription that also covers other legal forms. You answer a questionnaire, and the platform generates a document filled in with your information.
You save money and give up personalized guidance. No one checks whether the powers you’re granting match your actual situation or whether a family dynamic creates risks the template doesn’t address. If your finances are simple and you know what authority you want your agent to have, this route works. If you’re uncertain on either point, the savings are not worth a document that doesn’t do what you need.
Free and Low-Cost Options
Many states publish free statutory power of attorney forms on their court or legislature websites. These forms are built to comply with that state’s requirements, so they are legally valid when executed correctly. Executing correctly is on you. No one reviews the document, explains what each power means, or flags problems. For someone with a small bank account and no real estate, a free statutory form can be perfectly adequate. For anything more involved, the lack of guidance becomes a real liability.
Active-duty service members and their families can get a power of attorney drafted at no cost through their installation’s legal assistance office. Military legal assistance attorneys prepare POAs routinely, especially before deployments, and sometimes bring legal services directly to units ahead of scheduled operations.1Military OneSource. Understand Military Power of Attorney: A Family Primer These attorneys will also review third-party forms, like a bank’s own POA template, before a service member signs.
Notarization and Recording Fees
Nearly every state requires a power of attorney to be notarized, and most also require one or two witnesses. Notary fees for in-person service are set by state law and typically run $2 to $15 per notarial act, with most states capping fees between $5 and $10. Banks, credit unions, and shipping stores often offer free or low-cost notary services to their customers, so check before paying a mobile notary a premium.
Remote online notarization is available in most states and lets you complete the process over video. Most states cap remote notarization fees at $25 per notarial act, with a handful allowing up to $30. The notarization platform itself may add another $10 to $25 on top of that.
If your agent will use the POA for real estate transactions, the document usually has to be recorded with the county recorder where the property sits. Recording fees vary widely but generally fall between $10 and $100 for a standard-length document. Some counties charge a flat fee, others charge by the page.
Paying a Professional Agent
Your agent is often a family member who serves for free. When no trusted family member is available or the finances are complex enough to warrant professional management, you can appoint a licensed professional fiduciary. Their fees are separate from and ongoing after the cost of creating the document.
Professional fiduciary hourly rates for serving as an agent typically run $190 to $250 per hour, with support staff billing at $65 to $85 per hour. Monthly cost depends on how much active management your finances need. A person with a few bank accounts and a pension might generate only a few hours of work per month; someone with rental properties, investments, and complex medical billing can require significantly more.
Cost to Revoke or Update Later
You might want a different agent, need to expand or narrow the powers you’ve granted, or start fresh. Revoking a power of attorney is legally straightforward but not always free. An attorney-drafted revocation runs $100 to $500 depending on complexity. You can draft one yourself, though getting the legal requirements right matters, because an improperly executed revocation may not hold up.
A revocation generally needs to be notarized, which adds the same $2 to $15. If the original POA was recorded with a county recorder, the revocation has to be recorded there too, and you’ll pay another recording fee. The step that costs nothing is also the one most people miss: you need to deliver written notice of the revocation to your former agent and to every institution that received a copy of the original. A bank that never learns about the revocation will keep honoring the old document.
What It Costs to Skip the Power of Attorney
The most expensive power of attorney is the one you never created. If you become incapacitated without a POA in place, your family has no legal authority to manage your finances, sell property, or make healthcare decisions. Their only option is to petition a court for guardianship or conservatorship, and that process is dramatically more expensive than any POA.
Attorney fees for a guardianship proceeding typically run $1,500 to over $10,000. The court may also appoint a guardian ad litem to independently evaluate the situation at $200 or more per hour, with total fees ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Filing fees, bond premiums, and certified document costs add several hundred more. Unlike a POA, guardianship expenses recur. Courts require annual accountings, which may involve filing fees and sometimes professional preparation, and a required surety bond can carry an annual premium in the hundreds of dollars for larger estates.
The $300 to $500 it costs to have an attorney draft a solid power of attorney looks like a bargain against the $5,000 to $15,000 a guardianship can cost before the first year is out.