How Much Does a Will Cost in Florida?

A simple Florida will from an attorney typically runs a few hundred dollars (often about $300–$800); complex wills or full packages cost more. Guided software produces a Florida-compliant will for a flat fee usually listed separately with exact purchase facts. Independent legal services are not included. What actually determines whether a will works isn’t the price — it’s correct execution under §732.502. This is general information, not legal advice, and prices vary.

What drives the price

Price doesn’t equal validity

A Florida will is valid only if it meets the execution requirements of §732.502 — signed at the end, two witnesses present together. Spend nothing and sign correctly and it is valid; spend a fortune and sign wrong and it is not.

What a will has to do, at any price

Whether it costs a few hundred dollars from a lawyer or comes inside a flat-fee plan, a Florida will has the same five jobs. Price only matters if the document does them.

The Florida rules no will can override

Part of what you pay for — from any source — is a document that knows these rules exist. Florida’s constitution restricts how a homestead can be devised when a spouse or minor child survives (§732.401, §732.4015): a will that leaves the house to a friend does not fail as a will, but the house passes as the constitution says. A surviving spouse may take an elective share of 30% of the elective estate regardless of the will (§732.2065). A spouse married after the will was signed, or a child born after it, takes a statutory share unless the will provides otherwise (§732.301, §732.302). And divorce automatically revokes the provisions in favor of the former spouse (§732.507(2)). A will that is silent on these is not wrong; it is simply overridden. See Florida homestead and the elective share.

What a flat-fee Florida will includes here

The Will-Based Plan is $199 for one person and $299 for a married couple, one time, no subscription. It prepares four documents from one questionnaire: the last will, the durable power of attorney, the healthcare directive with the living will, and the HIPAA release. The will itself is the firm-grade 18-article Florida master — the spousal portability election, the protective holdback trusts for younger beneficiaries, the homestead and guardianship articles, an optional pour-over devise if you have a trust, and the self-proving affidavit — with Florida signing instructions for each document, built-in completeness and format checks, and a free preview before you pay. It is software, not a law firm: the documents are prepared from your answers on locked Florida masters, they are not reviewed by anyone, and a licensed Florida attorney of your choosing can review them before you sign. See what the will covers and the Will-Based Plan.

The cost of not having one: Florida probate by the numbers

A will does not avoid probate — a funded trust, a lady bird deed, or beneficiary designations do that — but dying without one adds a court-chosen personal representative and the intestacy shares of Chapter 732 on top of the ordinary costs. Those ordinary costs are set out in statute as presumed-reasonable fees:

The schedule: $1,500 for estates of $40,000 or less, $2,250 up to $70,000, $3,000 up to $100,000, then 3% of the next $900,000, 2.5% from $1 million to $3 million, 2% to $5 million, 1.5% to $10 million, and 1% above that (§733.6171(3)). The personal representative’s commission runs 3% of the first $1 million, 2.5% to $5 million, 2% to $10 million, and 1.5% above (§733.617(2)). Both are presumed reasonable, not mandatory: the statute requires the attorney to disclose in writing that there is no mandatory fee, that the fee need not be based on the estate’s size, and that it is negotiable (§733.6171(2)(b)); a family member serving as personal representative often waives the commission; extraordinary services (selling real estate, litigation, tax proceedings) are billed on top.

Against those numbers, the price of a will — from any source — is small. The larger saving comes from the documents that keep property out of probate altogether: see how to avoid probate in Florida and the full probate cost guide.

When paying an attorney is the right call

Software prepares a document from your answers; a lawyer exercises judgment about your situation. Some situations call for that judgment: a blended family or a child you intend to leave out; a business, a professional practice, or property in more than one state; a beneficiary with special needs who receives public benefits; a spouse who may claim the elective share against your plan; any doubt about capacity or undue influence; or a family you expect to fight. In those cases the attorney’s fee buys advice a form cannot give. For the straightforward estate — a home, some accounts, a spouse and children who get along — the will’s words are the same either way, and correct execution is what makes it work.

Updating a will later

A will is changed by a codicil or replaced by a new will, and either needs the same two-witness execution (§732.502); handwritten changes on the original are not effective. The events that usually call for an update are marriage (§732.301), divorce (§732.507(2)), a child’s birth or adoption (§732.302), a move to or from Florida, a beneficiary’s death, or a change in who you would trust as personal representative or guardian. Keep the signed original where your personal representative can find it; Florida probate courts require the original, and a lost will is presumed revoked unless its contents and due execution are proven.

The terms in the price conversation

Attorney quotes and product pages use a vocabulary that decides what you are actually buying:

Personal representative

Florida’s term for the executor: the person the court appoints to administer the probate estate (§733.301–§733.304). A Florida resident, or a nonresident who is a close relative; never a person convicted of a felony (§733.303).

Residuary estate

Everything the will does not give away specifically. The residuary clause is the clause most estates mostly consist of; without one, the residue passes by intestacy (§732.101–§732.103).

Self-proving affidavit

The notarized acknowledgment by the testator and oath by the witnesses in the statutory form (§732.503), attached at signing so the will is admitted without locating the witnesses later.

Elective share

The 30% of the elective estate a surviving spouse may take regardless of the will (§732.2065); the elective estate reaches beyond the probate estate into trusts and pay-on-death accounts.

Homestead devise restriction

The constitutional limit on devising a Florida homestead when a spouse or minor child survives (§732.401, §732.4015); the will’s gift of the house yields to it.

Pretermitted spouse or child

A spouse married after the will was signed, or a child born or adopted after it, who takes a statutory share unless the will provides otherwise (§732.301, §732.302).

Codicil

A signed, witnessed amendment to a will (§732.502 formalities). Handwritten changes on the original are not a codicil.

Intestacy

The Chapter 732 default shares that apply when there is no valid will: the spouse and descendants in the statute’s proportions, and the court’s choice of personal representative (§733.301).

General information about Florida law, not legal advice. Pricing varies by provider and situation. EstateDraftFL is software, not a law firm.