Estate planning pricing

Fixed fees for wills, enduring powers of attorney, advance directives and family trusts.

Everything you put in place while you are alive.

Your will, powers of attorney, an advance directive, and a family trust if you need one. Fixed fees, told to you before we start.

Fee confirmed in writing before work starts

Powers of attorney only, $1,300 + GST individually or $2,300 + GST as a couple.

You already have a will and just need powers of attorney.

Which of these is you?

The figures below show what each of those costs once we know how straightforward your situation is.

You just want a will.

Will only, from $1,500 + GST individually or $2,500 + GST as a couple.

You have no will and no powers of attorney, and you want your estate planning done properly.

A full estate plan, from $2,850 + GST individually or $4,500 + GST as a couple.

Some of your assets or connections are outside New Zealand.

Two things decide your fee.

How straightforward your situation is, and whether you want just a will or your whole estate plan.

Level

Will only

Full estate plan

Level 1

A straightforward situation

$1,200 + GST

individual

$1,950 + GST

couple

$2,550 + GST

individual

$4,150 + GST

couple

Level 2

Your will has to be built around your family or a structure

$2,500 + GST

individual

$4,450 + GST

couple

$4,200 + GST

individual

$7,150 + GST

couple

Level 3

Someone may have a claim against your estate

$3,950 + GST

individual

$6,750 + GST

couple

$5,650 + GST

individual

$9,450 + GST

couple

What you get: A full estate plan is your will, both enduring powers of attorney (property, and personal care and welfare), and an advance directive. It includes a free review at three years or on any significant life event.

If you have pets, provision for them is included at every level and at no extra charge: who cares for them, and money set aside for their costs.

Will only is the will itself. You can add the other documents later, though the full plan always costs less than assembling them one at a time.

We tell you which level applies at your first meeting, before any work starts and before you commit to anything. If any of your assets or connections are outside New Zealand, your plan is priced on our Cross-Border Estate Planning pricing page instead.

Which level applies to you.

  • Level 1 — straightforward

    One relationship or none. Any children are of that relationship. Everyone who might expect to be provided for is provided for on ordinary terms. Nothing is being left out or cut down, there is no trust or company your will has to work around, and none of your assets are outside New Zealand.

  • Level 2 — your will has to be built around your family or a structure

    Nothing here is contentious. Nobody is being left out and nobody is expected to complain. Your will simply cannot be done from a template.

    A blended family where everyone is provided for. Children from more than one relationship, or a partner with children of their own. Even where nobody is unhappy this needs care, because when one of you dies the survivor can choose between taking what the will gives them and claiming relationship property instead, and that choice can undo what the will was meant to do. We work it through with you before anything is drafted.

    Succession of something. A farm, a business, or an asset that has to reach a particular person intact.

    A trust or a company your will has to work around.

    You want to hold something back rather than hand it over. A life interest for someone, gifts held until a child reaches a certain age, or a staged distribution.

    A child who needs protecting rather than simply providing for. A disability, an addiction, a creditor problem, or a relationship you are worried about.

    Guardianship of young children needs real thought. Including who takes over if your first choice cannot.

    A gift to charity, or a gift with conditions attached.

    Your executor lives overseas, or you want a substitute executor.

    Separate property to identify, where no partner has a claim over it.

  • Level 3 — someone may have a claim against your estate

    Any one of these is enough. One is no cheaper than five: it is a single conversation about your family.


    You are leaving someone out, or giving them less than the others. A child, a partner, or a stepchild you have been supporting. This is the most common reason a will is challenged.

    You are treating your children unequally, for a reason. One cared for you; another had help while you were alive.

    You have a current or former partner with a claim to relationship property. A different question from what your will says, and often the one that decides what your will can achieve.

    Someone has been promised something. A farm, a house, a share of the business, in return for work or care. A promise like that can be enforced against your estate whatever your will says.

    A blended family where one side is being reduced. A blended family in which everyone is provided for sits at Level 2. This is where one side is getting materially less than the other.

    Separate property or an inheritance you want kept out of the pool, where a partner is in the picture.


    A will cannot be made challenge-proof, and no lawyer in New Zealand can sell you that. A court can vary a will where it decides someone with a claim was not adequately provided for, even if that person has no financial need. What Level 3 buys is an honest assessment of the risk before you decide anything, a structure that reduces what is exposed or the grievance itself, and a properly built record: your reasons in your own words, evidence of your capacity, and a file made at the time. Sometimes the advice is that what you want will not hold and there is a better way. You will hear that early, not after the documents are drawn.

Property, and personal care and welfare. Already in the full estate plan; this price is for adding them to a will-only engagement, or on their own if you already have a will.

$2,300 + GST

Both enduring powers of attorney

$1,300 + GST

Trusts and separate documents.

Service

Individual

Couple

Notes

Family trust, simple

from $3,500 + GST

from $3,500 + GST

The trust, the documents that move your assets into it, a memorandum of wishes, and advice on the trustee structure. One fee whether you are one person or a couple. A corporate trustee company is an additional cost.

Family trust, complex

from $5,500 + GST

from $5,500 + GST

The trust, the documents that move your assets into it, a memorandum of wishes, and advice on the trustee structure. One fee whether you are one person or a couple.

Corporate trustee company

$850 + GST

$850 + GST

Where a company is to act as trustee of your trust.

Advance directive

$600 + GST

$1,000 + GST

Already in the full estate plan.

What these fees do not cover.

Anything arising from your free review.

The review costs nothing. If it shows something needs changing, we quote that work before doing it.

Administering an estate after a death.

These fees are for planning. Probate, letters of administration and defending a claim against an estate are separate work.

A medical certificate as to capacity.

Where one is advisable, your doctor charges for it and that cost is passed to you at cost.

Conveyancing and third-party costs.

Land transfer work, registry fees, and any accountant or other adviser you instruct are separate and paid by you directly

Before we begin you will receive a letter of engagement setting out your fee, which level applies and why, exactly what is covered, and our terms. Nothing is charged beyond that fixed fee unless you have agreed to it in writing first.

Not sure which level applies?

Tell us briefly about your family and what you own. We confirm the level at your first meeting, before any work starts, and put the fee in writing.