It depends on what you need, where you are, and how complex your situation is. That is not a non-answer. It is the most honest starting point, because the range is genuinely wide and understanding why it varies is more useful than a single number that may bear no relation to your circumstances.
For a straightforward set of planning documents, a durable power of attorney, healthcare proxy, and a basic will, expect to pay somewhere between $500 and $2,000 depending on the attorney and the state. In major metropolitan areas, particularly on the coasts, the upper end of that range is more common. In smaller cities and rural areas, the same work may cost considerably less.
A revocable living trust, which many families add to the core document package, typically adds another $1,500 to $3,000. Some attorneys offer bundled estate planning packages that bring all of these together for a flat fee. Others price each document separately. It is always worth asking how an attorney structures their fees before the first meeting.
Medicaid planning is where costs begin to rise more significantly, and where the range widens considerably. A Medicaid asset protection trust, or MAPT, typically costs between $3,000 and $8,000 to establish, depending on the complexity of the assets involved, the state’s specific rules, and how much coordination with other documents is required. In states with particularly active elder law markets, such as Florida, New York, and California, fees at the higher end of that range are not unusual.
A full Medicaid application, which involves gathering five years of financial records, preparing documentation, and managing the submission process, can run from $3,000 to $10,000 or more, particularly in states where the application process is complex or where there are assets that require careful structuring. Some attorneys charge a flat fee for this work. Others bill hourly, at rates that typically fall between $300 and $500 per hour for experienced elder law practitioners, and higher still for board-certified specialists in major markets.
Guardianship proceedings are among the most expensive matters an elder law attorney handles. Establishing a guardianship through the courts can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000 or more, depending on whether the case is contested and how much court supervision is involved. Annual reporting requirements add ongoing costs that can run into the hundreds or low thousands each year. This is one of the more compelling financial arguments for putting a power of attorney in place early, as it can cost a fraction of what a guardianship ultimately runs to.
Contested matters, including disputes between family members over a parent’s estate, challenges to a will or trust, or allegations of financial exploitation, are billed hourly and can escalate quickly. These are not fixed-fee engagements and the costs are genuinely difficult to predict at the outset.
The variation in fees reflects several things. Experience and certification matter: a board-certified elder law attorney with thirty years of Medicaid case work commands a higher rate than a general practitioner who handles elder law occasionally. Geography matters: the same document package costs more in Manhattan than in rural Tennessee. Complexity matters: a single-property estate with straightforward finances is a different engagement from a blended family with multiple properties, retirement accounts, and a long-term care insurance policy that needs to be coordinated with a Medicaid strategy.
The one thing that most experienced elder law attorneys will tell you is that their fees are rarely the largest number in the room. The cost of not planning, whether that is a guardianship that could have been avoided, a Medicaid penalty period triggered by a poorly timed asset transfer, or a house lost to estate recovery that a simple trust could have protected, tends to dwarf the cost of the planning itself.
Most elder law attorneys offer an initial consultation, sometimes free and sometimes for a modest fixed fee. It is the most efficient way to understand what your situation actually requires and what it is likely to cost.