Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
Updated August 4, 2026. Quick answer for New Hampshire: nobody publishes a reliable, state-specific median for what a will costs here, and the figures you will see quoted — including ours — are national. Anyone showing you a precise New Hampshire number is estimating. What is genuinely New Hampshire-specific, and what actually decides whether your will works, is how it has to be executed. The detail worth knowing before you sign anything: what is genuinely New Hampshire-specific is how a will has to be executed, and that is what decides whether the document works at all.
How to make a will in New Hampshire: what the statute says
Each line is a short extract quoted from the New Hampshire statute itself; the section has the exceptions.
- Signing and witnesses. RSA 551:2, I: “Be in writing; and (c) Be signed by the testator, or by some person at his or her express direction in his or her presence; and (d) Be signed by 2 or more credible witnesses, who shall, at the request of the testator and in the testator’s presence, attest to the testator’s signature.”
- Gift to a witness. RSA 551:3: “Any beneficial device or legacy made or given in a will to a subscribing witness thereto or to the wife or husband of such a witness shall be void unless there be 2 other subscribing witnesses…”
- Self-proving affidavit. RSA 551:2-a, I: “To qualify as self-proved, the signatures of the testator and witnesses shall be followed by a sworn acknowledgment made before a notary public or justice of the peace or other official authorized to administer oaths in the place of execution…”
The cost of settling an estate is a separate question: New Hampshire Probate Cost 2026.
The honest position on New Hampshire pricing
We publish a national attorney median for a simple will of $625 (middle 50% $450–$1,000) and a DIY platform range of $129–$599. Attorney figures are the national medians from the LegalTemplates 2026 survey of 909 firms, verified July 23, 2026. They are national, not state-specific. Geographic multipliers are widely republished, but the primary source for them blocks automated verification, so we will not apply one to New Hampshire and present the result as a New Hampshire figure. When a defensible state-level dataset exists, this page will carry it and say where it came from.
What New Hampshire law actually requires
This is the part that is genuinely state-specific, and the part that decides whether the document works at all. Every line below is read from the statute, with the citation attached:
- Witnesses: 2. RSA 551:2, I
- If a beneficiary witnesses it: the gift to that witness is void or cut back, but the will still stands (purging statute). RSA 551:3
- Notary required for the will to be valid: no. A notary is not what makes a will valid here — the witnesses are. RSA 551:2
- Self-proving affidavit: available. The statute provides one: “To qualify as self-proved, the signatures of the testator and witnesses shall be followed by a sworn acknowledgment made before a notary public or justice of the peace or other official authorized to administer oaths in the place of execution…” RSA 551:2-a, I
- Handwritten (holographic) wills: not recognised. RSA 551:2
- Electronic wills: not recognised. Remote video witnessing is permitted; electronic wills are expressly prohibited. RSA 551:2, III(b)
The full 44-jurisdiction comparison is on what each state requires for a will to be valid. Whether a beneficiary may witness is covered nationally on can a beneficiary witness a will, and the notary question on does a will need to be notarised.
Does New Hampshire give you a free form?
No. We found no complete statutory will form in the New Hampshire code. California, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin each print one in their own codes. In New Hampshire your realistic routes are a DIY platform, a flat-fee attorney will, or an hourly engagement if the estate is complicated.
If a DIY will is the right route for you in New Hampshire
Where the estate is straightforward and none of the complications above apply, a properly executed DIY will does the job, and how it is signed matters far more than where the document came from. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament, which you then sign and witness under the New Hampshire rules above.
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.
What skipping it costs in New Hampshire
New Hampshire sets probate compensation using “reasonable” compensation with no percentage schedule. The two things that decide what an estate actually pays are the fee basis and the small-estate threshold — and New Hampshire puts a number on neither.
Fee basis: No statutory percentage schedule; executor/administrator and attorney compensation is allowed by the Circuit Court Probate Division as just and reasonable (see RSA ch. 554 et seq. and probate court practice). Exact compensation section not pinned to primary source in this pass.
Small-estate threshold: New Hampshire publishes no dollar-based small-estate threshold. Eligibility turns on who the administrator is and the estate’s debt position, not on value — RSA 553:32 (waiver of administration); RSA 553:33 (summary administration).
A will does not avoid probate — it directs it. What it prevents is the estate being distributed by New Hampshire’s intestacy statute instead of by you, and it lets you name the executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. The arithmetic on the other side is on what probate costs in New Hampshire.
What a will costs nationally — every route priced, and the four situations where DIY fails.
Statutory text read at the state’s own legislature or official code site. Pricing figures are national and dated above. General information, not legal advice.
Related: whether New Hampshire requires the executor to post a bond.
Related: how long creditors have to file a claim against an estate in New Hampshire.
Related: how long you have to contest a will in New Hampshire.
The court’s own filing fee to open probate is a separate cost from what’s on this page, see the New Hampshire probate filing fee.