How Long to Prepare a Will: Complete Timeline Guide

How long it takes from first call to signed will, what slows the process down, and how to think about timing when you need a will completed.

“How long will this take?” is one of the most common questions we hear at the start of a will engagement. The honest answer is that it depends on the complexity of the situation, the responsiveness of the client, and whether the will stands alone or is part of a larger estate plan. For a straightforward will, the entire process from first conversation to signed document can run two to four weeks. For more complex situations, it can run six to eight weeks or longer.

The good news is that most of the elapsed time isn’t actually drafting time. It’s the time between meetings, reviews, and signings. The attorney’s actual work on a typical will is a matter of hours, not weeks. The calendar time mostly reflects scheduling and review cycles, which means well-organized clients with clear wishes can move faster than this average.

After 27 years and 5,423 trusts drafted at The Eastman Law Firm in Leawood, serving families across Johnson County, we’ve handled will preparations across every level of complexity. Here’s what the typical timeline actually looks like.

The Stages of Will Preparation

Most will engagements run through a similar set of stages. Knowing what each stage involves helps set realistic expectations for timing.

1. Initial conversation (15 to 60 minutes). A free 15-minute call usually covers whether a will is the right tool and what the engagement would involve. If you decide to proceed, a longer initial meeting (in person, by phone, or video) covers your family, assets, beneficiaries, executor choice, guardian nominations for minor children, and specific bequests. This conversation is where most of the substantive decisions get made.

2. Information gathering (a few days to a week). After the initial conversation, you may need to gather specific details: full legal names and birthdates of beneficiaries, contact information for your chosen executor and guardian, descriptions of specific items you want to leave to specific people, beneficiary designation information on retirement accounts and life insurance. Some clients have all this at the initial meeting; others need a few days to pull it together.

3. Drafting (3 to 10 business days). The attorney drafts your will based on the information you provided. For a straightforward will, this is usually a few hours of attorney work spread across a few business days. More complex wills (specific trust provisions, blended family situations, conditional bequests) take longer.

4. Client review (a few days to a week). You receive the draft and review it carefully. This is the time to ask questions, request clarifications, and identify any provisions that don’t match what you wanted. Most clients have at least one round of revisions.

5. Revisions (1 to 3 business days). The attorney revises the will based on your feedback. For minor revisions, this is quick. For substantive changes, it may take longer.

6. Final review (1 to 2 days). You review the revised will to confirm everything is correct. Sometimes there’s another round of small adjustments.

7. Signing (one appointment). The will is signed in the presence of two competent witnesses, with notarization for self-proving status under K.S.A. 59-606. The signing appointment usually takes 30 to 60 minutes. After signing, you receive the original signed will and instructions for safekeeping.

Total elapsed time from first call to signed will is typically two to four weeks for straightforward situations.

What Determines Whether Yours Is Faster or Slower

Several factors push the timeline in either direction:

Complexity of family situation. A simple family (married couple with shared children, clear beneficiary preferences) moves faster than a blended family with children from prior marriages and detailed control concerns. Single adults with simple distribution preferences also tend to move quickly.

Complexity of assets. Modest assets without real estate or business interests are simpler to draft around than complex portfolios with multi-state property, business interests, specialized investments, or international assets.

Number of specific bequests. A will leaving “everything to my spouse, then everything to our children equally” drafts faster than one with 15 specific bequests of personal property to specific individuals.

Coordination with other planning documents. A will being prepared alongside a revocable trust, powers of attorney, and other documents takes longer than a standalone will because the documents need to coordinate.

Client responsiveness. The fastest engagements happen when the client schedules meetings promptly, provides information quickly, and reviews drafts in days rather than weeks. The slowest engagements involve long delays between client communications.

Decisions that need to be made. Some clients come to the initial meeting with everything decided: executors, guardians, beneficiaries, specific bequests. Others need time to think through these decisions, which can extend the timeline.

Holiday and busy periods. Year-end and tax season can extend timing because of attorney schedules and client availability.

When You Need a Will Faster Than Usual

Sometimes there’s a specific reason a will needs to be completed quickly: an upcoming trip, a recent diagnosis, an impending surgery, or simply the realization that you’ve put it off too long and want it handled before anything happens. Most will engagements can be accelerated when needed.

A streamlined timeline might look like:

• Initial conversation and substantive meeting in the same week
• Draft prepared within 2 to 3 business days
• Client review and revisions within the next few business days
• Final signing within 1 to 2 weeks of the initial meeting

For genuinely urgent situations (terminal diagnosis, imminent surgery, time-sensitive travel), even faster timelines are possible. We’ve completed wills within a week when the situation required it. The trade-off is usually that more compressed timelines leave less room for thoughtful consideration of complex provisions, so simpler wills work better for fast-tracked engagements.

Wills That Are Part of a Larger Estate Plan

A standalone will is usually faster than a will being prepared as part of a comprehensive estate plan. When the engagement also includes a revocable trust, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, HIPAA authorizations, and coordinated beneficiary designation reviews, the timeline typically runs four to eight weeks.

The reason isn’t that each individual document takes much longer. It’s that the documents have to coordinate. A pour-over will references the trust. The trust references the will’s executor. Powers of attorney coordinate with the trust’s successor trustee provisions. Beneficiary designation reviews verify that retirement accounts and life insurance align with the rest of the plan. The coordination work takes additional time but produces a plan that actually functions as a coordinated whole.

For broader context on the documents that make up a complete estate plan, see our guide to what’s included in an estate plan.

The Signing Appointment

The signing appointment is the only stage with strict legal requirements under Kansas law. For a will to be valid under K.S.A. 59-601 through 59-617:

• The testator must sign the will (or direct someone to sign in their presence)
• Two competent witnesses must be present at the same time
• The witnesses must observe the signing
• The witnesses must sign the will in the testator’s presence

A self-proved will includes a notarized affidavit from the witnesses that streamlines probate later because the witnesses don’t have to be located and brought to court. We typically include self-proving language as standard for Kansas wills, with notarization at the signing appointment.

The signing usually happens at our Leawood office, where witnesses and notarization are readily available. For clients with mobility limitations or other reasons they can’t come to the office, we can sometimes arrange alternative signing locations, though this requires additional coordination.

What Happens After the Will Is Signed

Once the will is signed, several things matter:

Original storage. The original signed will needs to be stored safely. Some clients keep it in a home fireproof safe. Some keep it in a safe deposit box. We can sometimes hold the original in our office files if that fits the client’s preference. The original is what’s required for probate; copies are not sufficient.

Letting your executor know. Your chosen executor needs to know they’ve been named and where the original will is kept. They don’t need to know the contents (unless you want them to), but they do need to know how to find the document after your death.

Periodic review. Wills should be reviewed every three to five years, or whenever significant life events occur: marriage, divorce, births, deaths, major asset changes, moves to or from Kansas. A will signed in 2010 and never reviewed may not reflect 2026 family circumstances or tax law.

For Kansas families thinking about wills as part of broader estate planning, our wills work typically happens within a coordinated planning engagement that handles all the related documents at the same time.

What the Free Call Is For

The 15-minute call sorts out what kind of will engagement fits your situation and what realistic timing looks like. You describe your situation: your family, your assets, any time pressure. Gary tells you what the work would involve, how long it would take, and what it would cost. Sometimes the answer is yes, this is straightforward and can be completed in two weeks. Sometimes the answer is that your situation is more complex and the right approach is a coordinated plan over six to eight weeks.

By the end of the call, you’ll know more about your situation than you did when you picked up the phone. Whether you hire us or not.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take a lawyer to create a will?

The actual attorney work on a typical will is a matter of hours, not days. What takes longer is the calendar time between stages: the initial meeting, the drafting period (a few business days), the client review (often a week as clients read carefully and ask questions), revisions, and finally the signing appointment with witnesses and notarization. From first conversation to signed will, the typical timeline is two to four weeks for a straightforward situation. Complex wills with detailed trust provisions, blended family considerations, or specific bequests can take longer, often four to six weeks. Wills prepared as part of a comprehensive estate plan (alongside a trust, powers of attorney, and other documents) typically run four to eight weeks because of the coordination required.

What is the quickest way to get a will?

The fastest legally valid will is one drafted by an attorney who can prioritize the work, with a client who is responsive and has clear wishes. In a genuine rush (imminent surgery, terminal diagnosis, time-sensitive travel), wills can be completed within a week from first conversation to signing. Online template services produce documents faster (sometimes within hours), but the speed comes at the cost of customization, attorney review, and confidence in execution. A template will signed without proper witnesses isn’t valid regardless of how fast it was produced. For most situations, the trade-off between speed and quality favors at least a basic professional engagement of two to four weeks. For genuinely urgent situations, even attorney-drafted wills can be completed in a few days when both parties commit to the compressed timeline.

How much do lawyers charge for wills?

Will pricing varies based on complexity and whether the will stands alone or is part of a larger estate plan. A standalone simple will typically runs $500 to $1,500 for an attorney-drafted document in Kansas. More complex wills (specific trust provisions, blended family considerations, detailed bequest schedules) can run $1,500 to $3,000 or more. Wills prepared as part of a comprehensive estate planning package alongside a trust, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and HIPAA authorizations are usually priced as a package; our Living Trust Package runs $950 to $1,950 for individuals and $2,950 to $3,950 for couples, with wills included. Hourly attorney drafting for complex situations runs $350 to $490 per hour at our firm. The total cost depends on what’s involved, but the upfront cost of attorney-drafted wills is usually well below the cost the family would pay later for probate complications from poorly-drafted or invalid documents.

How often should a person update their will?

A will should be reviewed every three to five years even if nothing significant has changed, and updated whenever specific life events occur: marriage, divorce, remarriage, births, deaths of beneficiaries or named executors, significant asset changes (buying or selling real estate, business changes, retirement), moves to or from Kansas, or changes in your wishes about who should inherit. Tax law changes can also prompt updates for wills that include tax planning provisions. Some life events are handled automatically by Kansas statute (divorce automatically revokes certain provisions favoring an ex-spouse under K.S.A. 59-610a, for example), but the automatic revocation is incomplete and shouldn’t be relied on as a substitute for deliberate updating. A will signed 15 years ago that hasn’t been touched since is often out of step with current circumstances even if the testator hasn’t experienced any single major event.

What is the 28 day rule in wills?

The 28 day rule (more commonly called the 30-day or 120-hour rule depending on the jurisdiction) is a survivorship requirement in some wills that says a beneficiary must survive the testator by a specified period to inherit. The purpose is to avoid two near-simultaneous deaths producing inheritances that pass through two separate estates and tax events. The Uniform Probate Code uses a 120-hour rule, and Kansas has adopted a 120-hour survivorship requirement under K.S.A. 59-616 unless the will provides otherwise. Some wills include longer survivorship periods (30 days, 60 days, or 90 days) for similar reasons. The 28 day reference may come from UK probate law, where 28 days is sometimes used. For Kansas wills, the default is 120 hours unless the will specifies a different period.