Updating our wills and cost?

[cricketwife]

H and I had our wills made 8 years ago.  There is a primary change we would like to make which is who would take guardianship or our children if we both passed.  That trickles down to some other minor changes (in terms of importance to me),  like that person (my brother)  would also be named as the executor, rather than burdening a friend who is currently named.  Similarly, the couple named as guardians, were also named as POA and healthcare POA if H or I were unable to do that for the other.  

For background, we were very good friends with this couple and had no siblings who could take these roles back when we made the will.  At that time, my brother was a 24 yo kid. Fast forward to today, we haven’t spoken to these “friends” in years and my brother has totally grown up, so he’s the logical choice. 

The lawyers office has said that the will needs to be completely rewritten and therefore the costs of changes is the same as the cost of a new will.  

In my mind, I had imagined that this would cost around $500, but instead it’s a lot more.  Does it sound right that this should cost the same as a new will? 

I mean, we need to do it regardless, I just don’t want to pay more than necessary. 

[flygirl]

I believe we made a change to our beneficiaries with an addendum but I’ve never changed guardianship so I don’t know if that requires a completely new will so that it’s clear.

[sandandsea]

We added a super straight forward addendum and it was $500. So I’m not surprised.

[mich1]

After we got married we had our wills done a few years ago. DH had an old will, I had none. A new will, POAs and medical directives for both of us cost about $1500. We did not need to assign guardianship to dependents as we have no children, so not sure what's involved with that and if there is additional paperwork needed.

[tacokick]

I was just quoted $500 for a will, POA and medical proxy.

[goldengirlz]

Does your employer offer any legal benefit? H and I both have Hyatt Legal through work and they covered 100% of the cost of our estate attorney. We were looking at paying a few thousand otherwise (VHCOL.) It’s not a cheap endeavor.

[cricketwife]

goldengirlz, no employer benefit.

Thanks all. I’m not sure I phrased my original question well. I know wills are expensive and I know their prices are in line with what a will costs around here. I was just surprised that we had to pay the full amount again just to make a change.

It’s a necessary update so we’ll just have to pay it.

[tripleshot]

We updated ours to change the guardian from BIL to my mom. We just had to do an addendum. I don’t remember how much it was but it was much cheaper than the original cost.

[cricketwife]

Jun 9, 2021 18:28:43 GMT -5 tripleshot said:

We updated ours to change the guardian from BIL to my mom. We just had to do an addendum. I don’t remember how much it was but it was much cheaper than the original cost.

Hmm, I wonder if I call another firm if they would do that. 

[freshsqueezed]

We updated secondary guardianship and secondary trustee for $100.

[melmel48]

I paid $500 for a will, POA, health care proxy and I forget what else. I imagine an addendum wouldn't be as much... I was pleasantly surprised at the cost TBH. The person I used was recommended to me by my financial advisor; so I trust him. She had told me he would be $750 and I was pleased with that price as well. I wasn't expecting it to be only $500.

[aspentosh]

Oof, that's a lot for a seemingly simple change. I like the idea of checking to see if an addendum would work, even if you need to check with another law firm.