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Should a lawyer prepare the will?

There is no legal requirement that a lawyer must prepare a will. However, it is best to have someone with legal knowledge, such as a lawyer, the Public Trustee or a private trustee company, to make a will. If all the formal requirements of a will are not met, a will may not be valid and/or more expense may be involved in having a court decide what the testator meant when they wrote the will.

Some trustee companies may make wills free of charge while others charge a fee. All trustees may, if they wish, charge a commission to administer the estate if appointed executor. A lawyer's charges will depend on how long it takes to prepare the will. The more complex a will is, the more expensive it will be. When choosing whether to use a lawyer, who charges at the time of making the will, or a trustee company which may have no charge for making the will, but charge a commission for the administration of the estate, it is worth being aware of the real cost of the commission method.

Should a lawyer prepare the will?  :  Last Revised: Mon Jan 6th 2020
The content of the Law Handbook is made available as a public service for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. See Disclaimer for details. For free and confidential legal advice in South Australia call 1300 366 424.