How much should it cost me to get a will?

We paid about $500

Here you go.

rocketlawyer

You might be able to find an attorney who will do a simple will for cheaper. But then in most states they'll make thousands when all your shite goes through probate/court system after you die since a Will = probate.

Well, you get what you pay for....


When it comes time to Probate your will, if your will is detailed or "complex" as you describe then there will be no issues for the Probate Court to have to decide.

One way or another you will have to spend money on either a good Will or a Probate attorney after your death.

To be smart, and considerate of your "remainders" aka your family, do the detailed Will now and make sure they know where the copies are.

Also, your idea of a Will is simple, but those are not all the issues that go into Probating a Will or an Estate.

All your accounts and property needs to be handled in there, further what about planning and payment of your funeral, is it smart to set up an estate for tax purposes.. etc...

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we name who should get the kids if both wife & I die

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the Godparents do if you aren't a family of heathens

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I reached out to one attorney who was referred to me and they asked me to pay an $800 retainer up-front. WTF?

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Anybody good that's probably about right OP. Any decent lawyer is going to be at least $250/ hour if not closer to $500 now.

You are going to want to have at least a short meeting with them and then pay for them to draw it up and review it. That's 2-3 hours of work at least.

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For a piece of paper that says "when I die, my wife gets everything, if we both die, the kids go to be in the care of my sister"?

No wonder people hate lawyers.

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It's a little more complicated than that.

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Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

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but only for the strong willed

Seriously, a simple one is about $500