What estate planning costs, and what a cheap will leaves exposed

You've seen the online services offering wills for a few hundred rand, and the professionals quoting thousands. The gap feels vast, but it's not mainly about greed or unnecessary padding — it's about what you're actually paying for, and more importantly, what you're not. A quote that skips fact-finding, rushes the asset review, or hands you a template without discussion can mean corners cut in ways that surface only when your estate is being wound up, usually when it's too late to fix anything.

The real cost of estate planning isn't just the drafting fee. It's the thinking time, the conversations that uncover problems you didn't know existed, and the paperwork that prevents disputes later. When a provider can't tell you how much time they'll spend on fact-finding, review, or drafting, that's a sign one or more of those things may be getting cut, whatever the price.

What's actually included in a proper quote

A full estate planning engagement involves understanding your circumstances in detail. This means asking about your assets — not just listing them, but confirming what's owned outright, what's in a trust, what has nominated beneficiaries, what's tied up in a business. It means exploring family dynamics: whether you have children from multiple relationships, whether anyone depends on you, whether you anticipate conflict. It means identifying who should handle your affairs and whether they'll actually want to.

The adviser needs time to spot gaps and conflicts in what you're trying to achieve. Perhaps you want to leave your house to one child but your business to another, but the house is mortgaged and the business generates the income to cover the mortgage. Perhaps you're planning to provide for a child with a disability without accidentally disqualifying them from state support. Perhaps you own property in another province or country. These aren't rare edge cases — they're common complications that a flat-rate template approach simply won't catch.

Once the adviser understands your situation, they draft documents tailored to it: your will, possibly a trust deed, possibly powers of attorney. They check that your asset ownership aligns with your stated wishes — for instance, that life insurance is properly nominated or held in trust. They flag anything that needs to change before the documents are signed. They explain what you're signing and why each part matters.

When a provider skips or rushes this investigation phase — regardless of what they charge — it shows up in the result. If a provider only has you fill in a form and plugs your answers into a template without further discussion, the result reads like a will because it is technically a will, but it's generic, and it may miss your specific exposures.

What silence costs you later

When a cheap will or plan falls short, the bill gets handed to your estate. Your executor or heirs end up paying lawyers to interpret ambiguous language, negotiate around gaps, or litigate because the document didn't anticipate what actually happened. If your will is silent on how to handle a particular asset or situation, the law fills in the blanks — and the law's answer might not be what you wanted. If your documents contradict each other or conflict with how your assets are actually owned, your family fights while the lawyers bill by the hour.

A more thorough upfront process costs more, but it's insurance. It's the difference between paying once to get it right and paying repeatedly to fix it. It's also the difference between your wishes being carried out and a court, or worse, a bitter family dispute, deciding what happens instead.

When you're comparing quotes, don't just look at the price. Ask what the fee covers: How much time will the adviser spend understanding your situation? Will they review your existing documents and asset setup? Do they charge extra for follow-up questions or for implementing recommendations? What happens if circumstances change in the first year or two? Are they registered with a professional body, and can they point to credentials?

A lower-priced option isn't inherently worse — but if it comes with little or no fact-finding and no review of your documents, you're agreeing to do most of the thinking yourself, then hoping it all works out. A qualified estate planner on Strove will lay out what they're doing and why, so you can make an informed choice about whether their fee reflects the depth you actually need.