Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer for Illinois: 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 Illinois number is estimating. What is genuinely Illinois-specific, and what actually decides whether your will works, is how it has to be executed. The detail worth knowing before you sign anything: Illinois’s self-proving affidavit is one of the very few that does not require a notary, so the step that stalls people in other states does not apply here.
Putting a loan in writing? The interest limit, the signing rules and the time limit to sue, from the state’s own statutes: Illinois promissory note.
How to make a will in Illinois: what the statute says
Each line is a short extract quoted from the Illinois statute itself; the section has the exceptions.
- Signing and witnesses. 755 ILCS 5/4-3(a): “…in the presence of the testator by 2 or more credible witnesses…”
- Interested witnesses. 755 ILCS 5/4-6(a): “If any beneficial legacy or interest is given in a will to a person attesting its execution or to his spouse, the legacy or interest is void as to that beneficiary and all persons claiming under him, unless the will is otherwise duly attested by a sufficient number of witnesses as provided by this Article exclusive of that person…” “…but the beneficiary is entitled to receive so much of the legacy or interest given to him by the will as does not exceed the value of the share of the testator’s estate to which he would be entitled were the will not established.”
- Self-proving affidavit. 755 ILCS 5/6-4(b): “The statements of a witness to prove the will under subsection 6-4(a) may be made by (1) testimony before the court, (2) an attestation clause signed by the witness and forming a part of or attached to the will or (3) an affidavit which is signed by the witness at or after the time of attestation…”
- Electronic will. 755 ILCS 6/5-5(a): “To be valid under this Act, an electronic will shall be executed by the testator or by some person in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction, and attested to in the testator’s presence by 2 or more credible witnesses.”
The cost of settling an estate is a separate question: Illinois Probate Cost 2026.
The honest position on Illinois 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 — see the note on state pricing below. Geographic multipliers are widely republished, but the primary source for them blocks automated verification, so we will not apply one to Illinois and present the result as an Illinois figure. When a defensible state-level dataset exists, this page will carry it and say where it came from.
What Illinois 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. 755 ILCS 5/4-3
- If a beneficiary witnesses it: the gift to that witness is void unless the will is otherwise duly attested by a sufficient number of other witnesses, and even then the witness may still receive up to the value of the share of the estate he or she would take if the will were not established (purging statute). 755 ILCS 5/4-6
- Notary required for the will to be valid: no. A notary is not what makes a will valid here — the witnesses are. 755 ILCS 5/4-3
- Self-proving affidavit: available. Signing one at the same time as the will is what saves your executor from tracking witnesses down years later. 755 ILCS 5/6-4(b)
The full 44-jurisdiction comparison is on what each state requires for a will to be valid.
Does Illinois give you a free form?
No. We found no complete statutory will form in the Illinois code. California, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin each print one in their own codes. In Illinois 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 Illinois
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 Illinois 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 Illinois
Illinois 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: A representative is entitled to “reasonable compensation for his services” (755 ILCS 5/27-1). Illinois states no percentage schedule and no dollar figure.
Small-estate threshold: $150,000 of personal estate, excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State (755 ILCS 5/25-1).
A will does not avoid probate — it directs it. What it prevents is the estate being distributed by Illinois’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 Illinois.
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.
Also on Illinois: Illinois Small Estate Affidavit and What Adult Guardianship Costs in Illinois.
Related: whether Illinois 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 Illinois probate filing fee.
Related: how long creditors have to file a claim against an estate in Illinois.