Quick answer
A DIY will (kit, template, or online service) costs $0 to about $200 and is fine for a very simple estate where everything goes to one or two named adults. A lawyer-drafted will costs roughly $500 to $1,500 and becomes the right option when the estate involves a blended family, minor children, a testamentary trust, contracting out of relationship property, business or overseas assets, or any realistic prospect of a challenge under the Family Protection Act 1955.
DIY vs lawyer — at a glance
| Factor | DIY (kit / template / online) | Lawyer-drafted |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | $0 to ~$200 | ~$500 to $1,500+ |
| Advice on capacity and signing | None | Lawyer attendance + record kept |
| Testamentary trust support | None in practice | Standard |
| Blended family and PRA contracting-out | Not handled | Handled with separate agreement under the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 |
| Original storage | Up to you | Held in lawyer's safe custody, indexed |
| Updates after life events | Re-do from scratch | Codicil or replacement, lawyer flags issues |
| Cost of failure | Section 14 application, court costs, distribution under intestacy rules | Rare; covered by professional indemnity if attributable to advice |
Five situations where DIY can work
- Single person, adult beneficiaries, simple assets. No partner, no minor children, one or two beneficiaries who are adults.
- Long-married couple, mirror wills, everything to each other then to adult children equally. No blended-family layer, no trust component.
- Adult with no dependants leaving everything to a charity or a sibling. Provided the gift is unambiguous.
- Updating an existing valid will for a small change (e.g. a new executor) using a properly executed codicil — though even this is cheap to do via a lawyer.
- Interim will pending a full lawyer-drafted will. Some people use a DIY will to cover the gap between, say, getting married and meeting a lawyer.
Seven situations where DIY usually fails
- Blended families. Children from previous relationships, current partner, and possibly children of the current relationship — DIY templates cannot reliably balance the Family Protection Act 1955 risk.
- Minor or vulnerable beneficiaries. A direct gift to a 5-year-old vests immediately at the age of majority — usually undesirable. A testamentary trust is the standard fix and is not a DIY product.
- Testamentary trust required. Trustees, trust property, distribution rules, end date — Trusts Act 2019 compliance is not handled by DIY templates.
- Property (Relationships) Act contracting-out. A will alone cannot defeat relationship-property entitlements; this is a separate agreement requiring independent legal advice for each partner.
- Business assets. Shareholder agreements, partnership agreements, and buy-sell clauses interact with the will. DIY templates do not address this.
- Overseas assets. Foreign-situs assets often need either resealing or separate wills in the relevant jurisdiction. Generic NZ templates do not handle this.
- Anticipated challenge. If you are deliberately leaving someone out (an adult child, a former partner), a contemporaneous lawyer's file note explaining the reasons substantially strengthens the will's defensibility under the Family Protection Act 1955.
The real cost of a failed DIY will
A will that fails — either as a whole or in part — does not save the money the testator thought they were saving. Common downstream costs include:
- Section 14 application. If the formal signing requirements were missed, the High Court can validate the document under section 14 of the Wills Act 2007. This is a contested application; lawyer fees and court fees typically run well into four figures.
- Intestacy distribution. If the will is invalid, the Administration Act 1969 distributes the estate according to fixed rules — which rarely match what the testator actually wanted.
- Family Protection Act 1955 claims. A poorly drafted will is much more vulnerable to a claim. Successful claims redistribute the estate and add significant legal costs paid from the estate.
- Estate administration friction. Banks, share registries and LINZ sometimes refuse to act on a DIY will until a lawyer has reviewed it, adding cost at the worst possible moment.
Wills Act 2007 signing checklist
Whatever option you choose, the will is only valid if:
- The testator is 18 or over (or married, in a civil union, or in a de facto relationship)
- The will is in writing
- The testator signs it at the end, intending it to take effect as their will
- Two adult witnesses are present together when the testator signs
- Each witness signs in the testator's presence and in the other witness's presence
- Neither witness is a beneficiary or the spouse, civil-union or de facto partner of a beneficiary
A DIY will that misses any of these usually fails. See the full text at Wills Act 2007.
Which option fits your situation
Use the comparison above as a starting point. If you fall into any of the seven "DIY usually fails" situations, the value of a lawyer-drafted will is several multiples of the up-front cost. If you are in one of the genuinely simple situations and confident about the signing formalities, a DIY route can work — though even a brief lawyer review before signing is inexpensive insurance.
Related: online will services compared, will-kit templates, wills and EPAs overview, will vs trust.