Professional services
Estate Planning Attorney Cost Calculator
Estimates estate planning cost, where the documents needed depend on circumstances rather than wealth.
Result
A planning estimate, not a quote. Access, the age of the equipment, what is found once it is opened up and local labour rates all move the real figure, sometimes a long way.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
The documents required at their respective fees, which in this area is commonly flat fee rather than hourly, plus any funding or recording costs. Estate planning prices reasonably well as a flat fee because the scope is definable, unlike litigation, which is why most practices quote it that way.
What moves the number
- Which documents are needed: will, trust, powers of attorney, directives.
- Whether a trust is involved, which raises both cost and complexity.
- Business interests or property in multiple states.
- Recording or funding costs after the documents are signed.
Where this one goes wrong
A trust that is never funded does nothing, and that is the most common failure in this area: the documents are signed, the assets are never retitled into the trust, and the estate goes through exactly the process the trust was meant to avoid. Ask what funding is included in the fee and what remains for you to do. The second point is that beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance generally pass outside the will entirely, so a plan that ignores them is incomplete regardless of how well the will is drafted.
Before you quote
- Ask whether trust funding is included in the quoted fee.
- Review beneficiary designations, which pass outside the will.
- Confirm what the fee covers and what costs extra.
Questions
About this calculator
Why do trusts fail to work?
Most often because they are never funded. The documents get signed, the assets are never retitled into the trust, and the estate goes through exactly the process the trust was intended to avoid. Ask what funding the fee includes and what is left to you.
Does a will cover everything?
No. Retirement accounts, insurance and accounts with beneficiary designations generally pass outside the will according to those designations, so a plan that ignores them is incomplete however well the will is drafted. Reviewing them is part of the work.
Why is estate planning usually a flat fee?
Because the scope is definable in a way litigation is not: a known set of documents for known circumstances. That makes flat fee pricing workable for both sides, and it also means you should expect a clear statement of what is and is not included.
The formula
total = hours x people x rate + parts + call-out, then sales tax
Put this calculator on your site
Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.
Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.
How to use this calculator
- Hours on the matter (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 8 h.
- Fee earners needed. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
- Hourly rate charged ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $250.
- Disbursements and filing fees ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $120.
- Initial consultation fee ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $95.
- Sales tax (%). Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to estimated total, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Hours on the matter | 8 h |
| Fee earners needed | 1 |
| Hourly rate charged | $250 |
| Disbursements and filing fees | $120 |
| Initial consultation fee | $95 |
| Sales tax | 0% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated total main result | $2,215 |
| Labour | $2,000 |
| Before tax | $2,215 |
| Sales tax | $0 |
About $2,215: $2,000 of labour, $120 of parts and a $95 call-out.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only hourly rate charged, this is what happens to estimated total. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Hourly rate charged ($) | Estimated total |
|---|---|
| $125 | $1,215 |
| $188 | $1,719 |
| $250 example above | $2,215 |
| $375 | $3,215 |
| $500 | $4,215 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Hours on the matter (h)
- Measured in h, between 0 and 400, starting at 8 h.
- Fee earners needed
- A number, between 0 and 40, starting at 1.
- Hourly rate charged ($)
- A money amount, starting at $250.
- Disbursements and filing fees ($)
- A money amount, starting at $120.
- Initial consultation fee ($)
- A money amount, starting at $95.
- Sales tax (%)
- Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Estimated total | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour | A money figure. |
| Before tax | A money figure. |
| Sales tax | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.