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 District of Columbia: 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 District of Columbia number is estimating. What is genuinely District of Columbia-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 District of Columbia-specific is how a will has to be executed, and that is what decides whether the document works at all.
Putting a loan in writing? The interest limit, the signing rules and the time limit to sue, from the state’s own statutes: District of Columbia promissory note.
How to make a will in District of Columbia: what the statute says
Each line is a short extract quoted from the District of Columbia statute itself; the section has the exceptions.
- Signing and witnesses. D.C. Code § 18-103: “…in the presence of the testator, by at least two credible witnesses…”
- Gift to a witness. D.C. Code § 18-104(a): “A beneficial devise, legacy, estate, interest, gift, or power of appointment of or affecting real or personal estate, given or made to an attesting witness to a will or codicil is void as to him and persons claiming under him, except as provided by subsections (b) and (c) of this section.”
- Electronic will. D.C. Code § 18-905: “Signed in the physical or electronic presence of the testator…”
The cost of settling an estate is a separate question: District of Columbia Probate Cost 2026.
The honest position on District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia and present the result as a District of Columbia figure. When a defensible state-level dataset exists, this page will carry it and say where it came from.
What District of Columbia 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. D.C. Code § 18-103
- If a beneficiary witnesses it: the gift to that witness is void or cut back, but the will still stands (purging statute). D.C. Code § 18-104(a)-(b)
- Notary required for the will to be valid: no. A notary is not what makes a will valid here — the witnesses are. D.C. Code § 18-103
- Self-proving affidavit: not provided for paper wills in Title 18; available for electronic wills (D.C. Code § 18-908). Without one, your executor may have to locate the witnesses at probate.
- Handwritten (holographic) wills: not recognised. D.C. Code § 18-103
- Electronic wills: recognised. D.C. Code § 18-905
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 District of Columbia give you a free form?
No. We found no complete statutory will form in the District of Columbia code. California, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin each print one in their own codes. In District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia
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 District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia
District of Columbia sets probate compensation using “reasonable” compensation with no percentage schedule. The two numbers that decide what an estate actually pays are the fee basis and the small-estate threshold.
Fee basis: Reasonable compensation for personal representatives and attorneys (D.C. Code §20-751 et seq.); no percentage schedule.
Small-estate threshold: $80,000 of property subject to administration in the District — D.C. Code § 20-351 (Mar. 21, 2025, D.C. Law 25-302).
A will does not avoid probate — it directs it. What it prevents is the estate being distributed by District of Columbia’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 District of Columbia.
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 District of Columbia requires the executor to post a bond.
The court’s own filing fee to open probate is a separate cost from what’s on this page, see the District of Columbia probate filing fee.
Related: how long creditors have to file a claim against an estate in District of Columbia.
Related: how long you have to contest a will in District of Columbia.