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.