Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer for New York: 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 York number is estimating. What is genuinely New York-specific, and what actually decides whether your will works, is how it has to be executed. The detail worth knowing before you sign anything: New York does recognise electronic wills, which most states still do not.
The honest position on New York 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 New York and present the result as a New York figure. When a defensible state-level dataset exists, this page will carry it and say where it came from.
What New York 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. EPTL § 3-2.1
- If a beneficiary witnesses it: the gift to that witness is cut down, but the will still stands (purging statute). EPTL § 3-3.2
- Notary required for the will to be valid: no. A notary is not what makes a will valid here — the witnesses are. EPTL § 3-2.1
- Self-proving affidavit: available. Signing one at the same time as the will is what saves your executor from tracking witnesses down years later. SCPA § 1406
- Handwritten wills: recognised only narrowly. Only for armed-forces members in actual service during war, persons serving with or accompanying such a force, and mariners at sea; expires one year after discharge (three years for mariners). EPTL § 3-2.2
- Electronic wills: recognised. EPTL art. 3, pt. 6 (§§ 3-6.1 to 3-6.9), effective December 12, 2027
The full 44-jurisdiction comparison is on what each state requires for a will to be valid.
Does New York give you a free form?
No. Only four states we can verify publish a complete statutory will form in their own code: California, Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin. In New York your realistic routes are a DIY platform, a flat-fee attorney will, or an hourly engagement if the estate is complicated. New Mexico is often listed as a fifth statutory-form state; we could not reach its official code to confirm it, so we leave it out rather than repeat it.
What skipping it costs in New York
A will does not avoid probate — it directs it. What it prevents is the estate being distributed by New York’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 York, and what the executor is paid in New York.
If a DIY will is the right route for you in New York
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 York 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 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.