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 Idaho: 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 Idaho number is estimating. What is genuinely Idaho-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 Idaho-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: Idaho promissory note.
How to make a will in Idaho: what the statute says
Each line is a short extract quoted from the Idaho statute itself; the section has the exceptions.
- Signing and witnesses. Idaho Code § 15-2-502: “…signed by at least two (2) persons each of whom witnessed…”
- Interested witnesses. Idaho Code § 15-2-505(b): “…is not invalid because the will is signed by an interested witness…”
- Self-proving affidavit. Idaho Code § 15-2-504: “Any will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved…”
- Handwritten (holographic) will. Idaho Code § 15-2-503: “A will which does not comply with section 15-2-502 of this Part is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the handwriting of the testator.”
The cost of settling an estate is a separate question: Idaho Probate Cost 2026.
The honest position on Idaho 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 Idaho and present the result as a Idaho figure. When a defensible state-level dataset exists, this page will carry it and say where it came from.
What Idaho 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. Idaho Code § 15-2-502
- If a beneficiary witnesses it: the witness is competent and the gift is unaffected — unusual, and worth knowing. Idaho Code § 15-2-505(b)
- Notary required for the will to be valid: no. A notary is not what makes a will valid here — the witnesses are. Idaho Code § 15-2-502
- Self-proving affidavit: available. Signing one at the same time as the will is what saves your executor from tracking witnesses down years later. Idaho Code § 15-2-504
- Handwritten (holographic) wills: recognised. Valid whether or not witnessed if the signature and material provisions are in the testator’s handwriting. Idaho Code § 15-2-503
- Electronic wills: recognised. Idaho has enacted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act; an electronic will must be a tamper-evident electronic record readable as text, signed by the testator (or by another individual in the testator’s name, in the testator’s physical presence and at the testator’s direction) and signed by at least two witnesses. Idaho Code tit. 15 ch. 2 pt. 11 (Uniform Electronic Wills Act), §§ 15-2-1101 et seq.; execution at § 15-2-1105
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 Idaho give you a free form?
No. We found no complete statutory will form in the Idaho code. California, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin each print one in their own codes. In Idaho 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 Idaho
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 Idaho 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 Idaho
Idaho 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: UPC state: reasonable compensation (Idaho Code §15-3-719); no percentage schedule.
Small-estate threshold: $100,000 fair market value of the entire estate subject to probate, less liens and encumbrances (Idaho Code § 15-3-1201).
A will does not avoid probate — it directs it. What it prevents is the estate being distributed by Idaho’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 Idaho.
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 Idaho 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 Idaho probate filing fee.
Related: how long creditors have to file a claim against an estate in Idaho.