How much a will costs in Ontario
A straightforward Ontario will drawn by a lawyer usually costs a few hundred dollars, and a pair of mirror wills for a couple costs more than one but less than two. Price rises with complexity: a trust for a minor, a blended family, a business, or property outside Ontario. A will kit is cheaper and is where most of the problems in this office begin.
- A simple will, with a lawyer
- Mirror wills for a couple
- A will kit
- A simple will, with a lawyerHundredsNot thousands, for a straightforward estate. Ask for the fee in writing before you start.
- Mirror wills for a coupleMore than oneLess than two. Most firms price a pair together.
- A will kitUnder $100The lowest price on the day, which is not the same as the lowest cost overall.
These are positions, not prices, and none of them is a quote. Ask any firm for its fee in writing.
What you are actually paying for
Not the typing. A lawyer is being paid to ask the questions that reveal the problems: who is actually named on your registered accounts, what happens if a beneficiary dies first, whether your executor can legally act, and whether the estate will have the cash to pay what it owes.
That is why the cost scales with the situation rather than the page count. A single person with a bank account and no children is a short conversation. A blended family with a house held one way and a policy designated another way is not.
What makes it more expensive
A trust for a minor or a dependent adult. Property in another province or another country. A business interest that has to be dealt with alongside a shareholders' agreement. A second marriage where children from a first one are involved. Any expectation that the will may be challenged.
None of these are reasons to avoid a will. They are the reasons the will matters more.
What a cheap will costs later
A kit will that is signed wrongly is not a will. Ontario requires two witnesses present together, and neither of them may be a beneficiary or a beneficiary's spouse, or that gift can fail. It is the most common defect we see and it is invisible until it matters.
The other failure is quieter: a valid will that contradicts a beneficiary designation. A designation on a policy or a registered account generally directs that asset regardless of what the will says, so a will drawn without reading the designations can leave an estate that does the opposite of what was intended.
What people ask next
Can I write my own will in Ontario?
Yes. A will you write entirely in your own handwriting and sign is a holograph will and is valid in Ontario with no witnesses. A typed or printed will needs two witnesses present together, and neither may be a beneficiary or a beneficiary's spouse. Most problems come from the signing, not the wording.
Do I need a lawyer?
For the will itself, yes, and Ehsan Khandaker is not one. He is a licensed financial and estate planner and does not draft documents. The planning around the will, the coverage, the designations, the tax and the liquidity to settle the estate, is his work, and it is what makes the will possible to carry out.
How often should it be redone?
After a marriage, a separation, a birth, a death, a property purchase or a business sale, and otherwise every few years. In Ontario, marriage no longer revokes a will, a change that took effect on 1 January 2022, so an old will made before a new marriage now survives it and may say something you no longer mean.
Where these figures come from
Checked 28 August 2026
- Succession Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.26, on formal validity and holograph wills.
- Ontario Succeeding with Succession Act, 2021, which ended marriage-revokes-a-will as of 1 January 2022.
- Fee ranges are typical for Peel and York and are not a quote. Ask any firm for their fee in writing.
Ehsan Khandaker is a licensed financial and estate planner, CLU and CHS. He is not a lawyer and does not draft documents. This page is general information about Ontario rules, not guidance about your own situation, and a will is drawn up by a lawyer.
Bring the will you already have, if there is one. Half the work is reading it against your designations.