Estate planning costs range from under $100 for DIY software to several thousand dollars for an attorney-drafted plan — and the right choice depends far more on your situation than on the sticker price. The real comparison is not attorney vs. online; it is the cost of planning now vs. the cost of probate, taxes, and family conflict later. This guide explains what drives the price and when each path makes sense.

What you're actually paying for
Document cost varies by execution method: DIY software ($0–$80 per document), online services with attorney-reviewed templates ($50–$700), or a licensed estate attorney ($150–$3,000+ per document). A will is cheap; a living trust is the most expensive single document because it must be drafted and funded. Attorney pricing also scales with your state's cost of living and your plan's complexity.

Why probate is the number that matters
Many people focus on the cost of documents and ignore the cost of doing nothing. Probate is public, slow (often 6–24 months), and expensive — in fee-schedule states it can run 2–6% of the gross estate. A funded revocable living trust avoids probate on the assets it holds, which is why the savings grow with estate value: setup cost is roughly fixed while probate scales with the estate.

The funding trap
The most common estate-planning mistake is creating a trust and never funding it. An unfunded trust controls nothing — those assets still go through probate, defeating the purpose. Budget for funding (re-titling deeds and accounts) when you create a trust; this calculator's 'include trust funding' toggle adds a realistic band so the comparison is honest.

When to hire an attorney
DIY and online services are reasonable for simple estates with straightforward distribution. Hire an attorney when you have a blended family, own a business, hold property in multiple states, have a special-needs beneficiary, or are near the federal or a state estate-tax threshold. In those cases the cost of a drafting error — a contested will, an unintended disinheritance, a disqualified Medicaid recipient — far exceeds the attorney's fee. The recommendation score on this page weighs exactly those drivers.

Don't forget incapacity
Estate planning is not only about death. Durable financial and healthcare powers of attorney protect you while you're alive but incapacitated. Without them, your family may need a court-appointed guardian or conservator — a process that commonly costs $3,000–$10,000+ and strips control from the people you would have chosen.