What's a reasonable price to have a will drawn up?

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Now that DH and I have a son we'd like to have a will drawn up dictating that everything should go to him if we were to pass away. I assume we need to go to a lawyer for this, but before I pull the trigger I'd like to know, what's a reasonable price to pay for this service? What did you pay?

Additionally, we'd like DS (and our two cats) to go to my mom were something to happen to us, how do we arrange this? Is this part of the will process as well?

I'm sorry if these questions are a little dumb, I'm pretty new to all this!

 

[1911]

you could try here... https://www.legalzoom.com

you may be able to do something as simple as writing something up yourself and having a notary certify it,of course I'm no lawyer and every state has it's own requirements.

 

[kymom99]

I would go to a lawyer. I think I paid $75 but that was a while ago. And yes, he/she will take care to include the arrangements for you son and cats. You also need to determine who will take care of your estate when you are gone. A good attorney will know what questions to ask to guide you in the right direction

 

[Eastern]

You can make an initial appointment with a lawyer; we saw a few and at each one, the consultation was free. They will go over your estate planning needs in a general way, and give you a list of prices for each thing (will, power of attorney, other things that you may want) and you go home and decide what you want to do. Then you can make an 'official' appointment for the things you actually want to do. Prices may vary significantly as each person has different needs in terms of estate planning.

 

[Sadie22]

Appointment of guardian of the person and property, trusts, etc., as well as consideration of future children and possible grandchildren , and trusts for pets, need to be covered. A good estate planning attorney will ask all the necessary questions to make sure all the bases are covered. This is not an area to go with the cheapest, but someone with experience.

 

[kymom99]

I guess since I have a family attorney, it's hard to imagine having to start from scratch. I feel it is very important to have a lawyer you trust, so that if something comes up, you aren't in the position of having to try to find someone under a stressful situation. I agree with the PP, make some appointments and find someone who is a good fit for you. Start a professional relationship with that person or group so that in the future all you have to do is call or email with a question. That way you will know you are in good hands.

 

[barkley]

Appointment of guardian of the person and property, trusts, etc., as well as consideration of future children and possible grandchildren , and trusts for pets, need to be covered. A good estate planning attorney will ask all the necessary questions to make sure all the bases are covered. This is not an area to go with the cheapest, but someone with experience.

I agree with this-and it's especially important if grandma lives in a different state b/c in some states (like mine) a guardian (or standby guardian) can't be an out of state resident (so it can entail jumping through some hoops to first determine which state the child will become a resident of and then going through what can be a time consuming guardianship appointment process and in the meantime something has to be in place for the grandparent to access funds/authorize medical care for the child), in others with executing a will an out of state resident has to get an in state resident to co-execute the estate so things should be set up ahead of time in your planning documents to make for the easiest transition if god forbid it's needed.

I'm a big fan of skilled elder law attorneys-even with younger parents. they look down the line and are aware of how your needs can change as you age/child ages/family grows....and structure things with that in mind. it's much less expensive to do the bulk of the work one time-then do small tweeks as needed/desired vs. reinventing the entire document multiple times.

 

[tvguy]

You need more than a will, you need an estate plan.
That will cost you more than $100.
I think we paid $1,100 which included setting up a Family Trust..

 

[scard192]

I spent about $750 in Mass for: will, revocable trust, power of attorney and heath care proxy.

 

[Best Aunt]

Do not assume an initial consultation is free. Ask when you make the appointment.

 

[Sleepy425]

We paid $750 for a will and to have the lawyer add my husband to the deed on my home. The will doesn’t just say that the kids and I to my sister - it has plan B and plan C for everything. A good lawyer will make sure all bases are covered. And will include future children in the will (even if you are dead set that you are one and done, it is so much easier to add “future children” now than have to remember to do it in the future).

 

[kymom99]

We paid $750 for a will and to have the lawyer add my husband to the deed on my home. The will doesn’t just say that the kids and I to my sister - it has plan B and plan C for everything. A good lawyer will make sure all bases are covered. And will include future children in the will (even if you are dead set that you are one and done, it is so much easier to add “future children” now than have to remember to do it in the future).

I agree. My lawyer said they try to write them so they endure for many years. So you don't have to keep going back to change them.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We did the will, healthcare stuff, power of attorney. The consultation was 200.00 and then getting it all done was another 800.00 so that totaled 1000.00.

 

[holden]

Definitely use an estate planning attorney. You need to cover all bases (health care directive, trust, etc) in addition to the will.

 

[BLAZEY]

I won our will preparation from the lawyer who does all the company and estate planning for the company I work for as a prize at the company Christmas party . He is one of the top estate and trust planning lawyer in our city. It was valued at $1000.00.

 

[NinaBella]

A few months ago I visited an attorney to get a consult and pricing on two wills and a family trust. He told me $1500. I said no thanks I’ll drive he hour to the military base to get it for free. I have a will its about 14 years old. My employer provides us a discount on LegalZoom, but I read bad reviews about LegalZoom.

I did show him my military will and he said it was a good will and would work just fine. He was really nice and knows I could get it for free versus paying him.

 

[SharonZ]

I work at a law firm, and $1,000 is a good estimate.

 

[Crystal824]

I am a lawyer (although I don't do estate work). It really depends on what you need/want. You should have a will, power of attorneys, durable health care POA, etc. You might as well do it all at once. I would highly recommend going to a reputable attorney rather than doing it yourself. Every state has different laws as to the number of witnesses, etc. If you don't follow the rules, it may not be a valid will. Get some recommendations from friends and family. Every situation is a bit different so it is difficult to estimate but between $600-$1200 seems reasonable to me.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Paid $500 last year to have a package done. Just DH & I no kids. This included will in addition to medical and financial POA.

 

[DisneyHardin]

This thread made me really start to think about the fact that DH and I don't have will. So, I texted my good friend that is an a lawyer and she is going to help us draw one up. Our problem is agreeing on who to leave things to once we are both gone since we don't have any kids. I think we should skip a generation and just leave it to nieces/nephews since we are very close in age to our siblings and so to me it doesn't make sense to leave things to them when they will be old like us. DH thinks we should just name our siblings in the will.