Clear Money Guide
What this guide covers
A quick view of the questions and evidence developed below.
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Updated August 1, 2026. Quick answer: a will-based estate planning package — will, financial power of attorney and advance directive — costs $149 to $299 from a DIY platform or a median of $1,000 from an attorney, with the middle half of firms charging $750 to $1,500. Add a revocable living trust and the attorney figure moves to a median of $2,700, with the middle half of firms charging $2,500 to $3,500 (LegalTemplates 2026, 909 firms; the trust-package row read at the source August 12, 2026, priced by 221 of them). Buying the documents separately is the expensive way to do it: the bundle exists because drafting them together is less work.
Package prices side by side
| Package | Price | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| LegalZoom Pro Will | $149 / $249 couple | Will, healthcare directive, medical and financial POAs, HIPAA auth |
| Trust & Will — Will Plan | $199 / $299 couple | Will, HIPAA authorisation, living will, power of attorney |
| Trust & Will — Trust Plan | $499 / $599 couple | Adds revocable living trust, schedule of assets, certification of trust |
| LegalZoom Basic Trust | $399 / $499 couple | Living trust, pour-over will, directive, financial POA, HIPAA, certificate |
| Attorney — will package | Median $1,000 (middle 50%: $750–$1,500) | Will + POA + directive, drafted and executed for your situation |
| Attorney — trust package | Median $2,700 (middle 50%: $2,500–$3,500) | Revocable trust plus the will-package documents; the study prices a trust drafted as a single document at a median of $2,475 |
Platform figures are published list prices; attorney figures are the LegalTemplates 2026 nationwide study of 909 firms. All verified July 23, 2026, Trust & Will re-checked August 1, 2026; the study’s will-package row — median $1,000, middle 50% $750–$1,500, 319 firms — was read at the source on August 12, 2026. A Nolo survey found 82% of estate planning clients paid a flat fee rather than hourly, and the 2026 study puts flat-fee pricing at 94% of firms — so a quoted package price is the norm, not a negotiation.
Building the documents yourself
If your estate is straightforward, the same documents can be assembled one at a time rather than bought as a bundle. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament, and its power of attorney and living will forms cover the rest of the standard set.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link — it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
Where you live changes the number
The same package is not the same price nationally. The 2026 study puts California, New York, Hawaii and Massachusetts at roughly 1.20–1.35× the national baseline, and Deep South and Plains states at 0.85–0.95×. If you are in a high-cost metro, treat the medians above as a floor rather than an expectation.
If you are quoted hourly instead, the benchmark rates are $351/hour for wills and estates and $380/hour for trusts work (Clio Legal Trends Report 2024). At those rates a package quoted flat at $1,500 is around four hours of work — which is a useful sanity check in both directions.
Does the trust package earn its extra $1,700?
Sometimes clearly yes, sometimes clearly no, and the deciding facts are knowable in advance: whether your state’s probate is expensive, whether you own real property in more than one state, and whether privacy matters to you. Our probate cost calculator prices the thing a trust is meant to avoid, which is the only honest way to judge the trade. Compare directly at will versus trust cost, and note one thing a trust does not do for free: moving a house out of your taxable estate can cost your heirs the step-up in basis.
What the package does not include
Notarisation and witnesses are yours to arrange. Funding a trust is also yours, and it is where DIY trust packages most often fail — an unfunded trust is an expensive document that changes nothing, because assets still titled in your own name still go through probate. If you buy a trust, finish it.
Individual documents: will · power of attorney · advance directive · living trust.
Getting the money side right
A package is a one-off cost; how the assets inside it are invested is the recurring one, and it is usually the larger number over a lifetime.