DIY wills vs. online services vs. hiring an attorney

You can get a will three ways: write it yourself for free, use an online service for $100–$300, or hire an attorney for $300–$3,000+. The industry-adjacent advice on this question is predictably self-serving in both directions — lawyers say DIY is malpractice waiting to happen; software companies say lawyers are obsolete. The truth is boring and useful: the right answer depends on how complicated your situation is, and there are bright-line cases for each option.

The three routes, honestly described

True DIY (template or handwritten): $0–$50

Statutory will forms (some states publish them), generic templates, or a handwritten 'holographic' will (valid in about half the states, with strict requirements). The risk isn't the price — it's silent invalidity. Execution formalities are unforgiving: the wrong number of witnesses, a witness who's also a beneficiary, a missing signature placement, and the will can fail entirely or partially, sending your estate through intestacy anyway. DIY wills also tend to omit the machinery good documents carry: backup executors, contingent beneficiaries, survivorship clauses, guardian nominations done properly.

Online services: $100–$300 (plus upsells)

Reputable online platforms generate state-specific documents through guided interviews, and typically bundle the full basic set: will, financial power of attorney, healthcare directive, sometimes a revocable trust for more. For a straightforward situation — married or single, kids or not, assets going to the obvious people, no exotic circumstances — the documents are generally sound. What software can't do is notice what you didn't tell it: it answers the questions you ask and never says 'wait, you have a child from a prior marriage and a house in two states — that changes everything.'

An estate planning attorney: $300–$3,000+

A simple will package runs $300–$1,000 in most markets; a trust-based plan $1,500–$4,000. You're not paying for typing — you're paying for issue-spotting (the questions you didn't know to ask), state-specific judgment, correct execution and witnessing, and a human who can testify the documents reflect your competent wishes if anyone ever challenges them. For complex situations, this is cheap. For simple ones, it can be overkill — though even then, many people happily pay for the confidence.

Bright lines: when you genuinely need an attorney

• Blended family: children from prior relationships plus a current spouse is the single most common way simple wills fail (see above).
• A child or heir with special needs receiving government benefits.
• An estate near federal or (much lower) state estate tax thresholds.
• You own a business, real estate in multiple states, or significant assets in a high-cost probate state.
• You expect a challenge: disinheriting a child, family conflict, a much-younger spouse, or any capacity questions.
• Non-citizen spouse (special marital deduction rules apply) or substantial foreign assets.
• You want anything conditional: staged inheritances, incentive provisions, protection from an heir's divorce or creditors.

When online is honestly fine

• First marriage, mutual kids or no kids, everything to the spouse then the children equally.
• Modest, ordinary assets — home, retirement accounts, bank accounts — mostly passing by beneficiary form anyway.
• Single with straightforward wishes and no dependents.
• As a bridge: a valid online will today massively beats the attorney appointment you'll book 'someday.' You can upgrade when life gets complicated.

A decision path and a maintenance plan

1. Scan the attorney bright-line list above. Any hit: hire the attorney. This is the cheap insurance tier of legal spending.
2. No hits: a reputable online service covering will + financial POA + healthcare directive is a defensible choice. Budget an evening.
3. Either way, do the beneficiary-designation audit (the first article in this category) — for most people those forms move more money than the will.
4. Execute correctly: disinterested witnesses, notarized self-proving affidavit, original stored findably, executor told where.
5. Re-review at every life event — marriage, divorce, birth, death, a move to a new state, a business, a windfall — and at least every five years. Yesterday's simple situation is how today's attorney cases start.

The three routes at a glance

Whichever row you land on, remember the table's quiet message: the cost differences are small compared to the estates involved. The gap between an online will and an attorney plan is roughly $1,000-3,000 — on estates that are typically hundreds of thousands of dollars, that is under one percent for the tier of certainty that fits your actual situation. People who agonize over this decision for years are spending more in risk than the most expensive option costs in dollars.

The bottom line

Match the tool to the complexity: truly simple situations are well served by a reputable online service executed carefully; blended families, special needs, businesses, tax exposure, and expected conflict need a human attorney, full stop. The worst option isn't DIY or software — it's the decade of nothing while you decide. Get a valid set of documents in place this month at whatever tier fits, sign them correctly, and upgrade when your life stops being simple.