For married couples,  I would prioritize estate planning as follows: 

• If I could only have one document, I would get a Transfer on Death Deed (TODD) for $250 (most valuable by far); 
• (Plus $250 for recording payable with a credit card at this LawPay Link for a total of $500 for a recorded TODD);
• (Quitclaim Deeds are $300 to prepare and $300 to record for a total cost of $600 each);
• (The second most valuable estate planning tools are beneficiary designations, which are free). 
• If I could have two documents prepared, I would add Powers of Attorney for Finances & Health for $100 each; 
• If I could have three documents, I would add a Living Will and Mental Health Advance Directive for $100 each; 
• If I could have four, I would add a Revocable Living Trust for $600;
• The Last Will & Testament is free because it will not be witnessed.  Probate does not require a Will.  It is my opinion that Probate should be avoided, but if it cannot be avoided then the Beneficiaries should communicate, agree, and sign affidavits before opening a Probate rather than having the Executor submit a witnessed will without agreement which can lead to disputes.  Doing so doesn’t cost anything.  (You can execute a Will electronically, you just have to find two witnesses who are not related to you, or mentioned in your estate planning documents.  They need to email me their driver’s licenses, and then all four of us have to arrange a time to sign on video. Plus you need to pay an additional $175.)
•  
• The total cost adds up to $1,500 with a discount for purchasing multiple documents. 
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For single people, I would prioritize estate planning as follows: 

• The Transfer on Death Deed price is $250 (most valuable by far);    
• (Plus $250 for recording payable with a credit card at this LawPay Link  for a total of $500 for a recorded TODD);
• (Quitclaim Deeds are $300 to prepare and $300 to record for a total cost of $600 each);
• (The second most valuable estate planning tools are beneficiary designations, which are free);
• The Powers of Attorney for Finances & Health, Living Will and Advance Directive are $75 each ($300 total);
• The Revocable Living Trust is $350;
• The Last Will & Testament is free because it will not be witnessed.  Probate does not require a Will.  It is my opinion that Probate should be avoided, but if it cannot be then the Beneficiaries should communicate, agree, and sign affidavits before opening a Probate rather than having the Executor submit a witnessed will without agreement which can lead to disputes. Doing so doesn’t cost anything. (You can execute a Will electronically, you just have to find two witnesses who are not related to you, or mentioned in your estate planning documents.  They need to email me their driver’s licenses, and then all four of us have to arrange a time to sign on video. Plus you need to pay an additional $150.)
•  
• The total cost adds up to $1,150 with a discount for purchasing multiple documents. 
•  

The $300 cost of recording a Quitclaim Deed is reimbursement of what it costs me to record (including the King County Recorder, Simplifile Annual Fee, Simplifile per document fee, the transaction costs for making the payments and the Real Estate Excise Tax Affidavit (REETA)).  Costs are fixed and irrelevant to legal insurance.  The Recorder  raised their fees by $100 on July 26th, 2021.    $250 is the cost to record a Transfer on Death Deed because there is no REETA.    I am not making money from cost reimbursement; I just do electronic recording as a convenience to clients so they don’t have to wait 4 months by mail.

EXCISE TAX & GIFTS OF REAL ESTATE EQUITY

For Quitclaim Deeds in which money is exchanged or Quitclaim Deeds that are gifts of equity, three documents are needed:

1. A screenprint from Zilllow showing the estimated market price on a given date;
2. A screenprint of the Assessed value from the Assessor’s website if you don’t have the postcard mailed to you; and
3. The latest mortgage statement and documentation of any other liens.

This information is needed to calculate equity.  Subtract all liens from the estimated market price.  That is the amount of the gift if no money is exchanged, and the recipient is not a spouse.  If money is exchanged, then subtract the amount paid from the equity to get the amount of the gift for the Recorder’s Gift Affidavit. If the gift is greater than $15,000 (or $30,000 for a couple) then the gift must also be reported on IRS Form 709 when the giver of the gift files their tax return.

The Assessed Value must be entered on the Real Estate Excise Tax Affidavit (REETA) which is required to be recorded with the Quitclaim Deed and the Gift Affidavit if applicable.

Excise Tax must be paid unless a valid exemption can be claimed on the REETA.  Common exemptions are transfers between spouses (or x-spouses), transfers to Trusts, or transfers to LLC’s, or adding or removing a Joint Tenant for no consideration (no money changing hands).  If money (or value) is exchanged, the Excise Tax is based on that money or value (currently the rate in King County is about 1.78%).  If there is a difference, it is reported as a gift.

It is important to realize that these Affidavits are sworn under penalty of perjury and carry potentially stiff penalties for false statements.  So, be honest about the money being exchanged, and pay the proper amount of tax.  Be honest about the value of the gift, and report it to the County as well as the Federal Government.  If you lie and sign a Gift Affidavit and money was exchanged, prosecuting you is easy because of your sworn statement clearly contrary to the facts.

It is a common misconception to describe the initial draft of estate planning documents to be “generic” or “boilerplate.”  This could not be any farther from the truth.  The draft of the documents that I prepare is from a template that I created and continuously revise and update based on client questions and experiences.  The draft incorporates the collective experience of the several thousand estate plans that I have prepared (and has links to dozens of other sources of information).