Power of Attorney Cost Calculator

A financial power of attorney authorizes your named agent to manage money, property, and financial transactions on your behalf, while a healthcare power of attorney (sometimes called a healthcare proxy) authorizes your agent to make medical treatment decisions if you become unable to communicate your own wishes. They are separate legal documents serving different purposes, and many people execute both together — this calculator's "Both" and "Full Package" options model drafting them as a set.

A simple POA using an attorney's standard template with default provisions requires relatively little drafting time, while custom provisions, multiple named agents with different authority levels, or conditions restricting when the agent's power takes effect all require additional attorney time to draft correctly and explain to you. Since most attorneys bill by the hour for this work, more complexity translates directly into a higher fee.

Often, yes on a per-document basis — attorneys frequently offer a lower marginal cost for adding a POA when it's bundled with a will, trust, or full estate plan, since much of the client intake and drafting overhead is shared across the documents. This calculator estimates the cost of drafting a POA as a standalone matter, so ask your attorney about bundled estate-planning pricing if you're also getting a will or trust done.

They can work for very simple situations, but they carry real risk: many states require specific witnessing procedures, notarization, or even a particular statutory form for a POA to be legally valid, and a generic online template may not meet your state's exact requirements. An improperly executed POA can be rejected by banks, hospitals, or courts exactly when your agent needs to use it, so weigh the cost savings against that enforceability risk carefully.

In the real world, filing or recording fees apply mainly to a financial POA that needs to be recorded with a county recorder's office — typically only if the POA will be used for real estate transactions in that county. A healthcare POA usually doesn't need to be filed anywhere. This calculator doesn't automatically adjust for that difference, though: Filing/Recording Fees is a flat amount you enter yourself, and it's added to Total Cost the same way regardless of which Document Type you select — so set it to $0 if you're only drafting a healthcare POA or otherwise don't expect to record anything.