How small Victorian firms make fixed-fee wills profitable

The problem with fixed-fee wills is simple: the fee is fixed, the time isn't. One client takes an hour. The next takes four phone calls to find out which super fund they're with and whether the unit is in joint names. The fee is the same either way.

The price squeeze

Prices are as published on each provider's site in late 2026. Whether that squeeze is working for firms is mixed: a Smokeball survey reported by Lawyers Weekly found 35% of Victorian firms said fixed fees were profitable and 29% said they weren't.

Where the time actually goes

Here's an illustrative breakdown of a "simple" will that runs over. The numbers are a rough guide, not measured data. You'll know your own.

The advice and the signing are the job. Most of the rest is admin that gets more expensive when it's done by the lawyer.

Six levers that bring the margin back

1. Collect the facts before the appointment. A structured questionnaire the client fills in at home (family, assets, how the home is held, super funds and nominations, existing will) means the appointment starts with the facts already on the page. In the client's own language if that's what they're comfortable in.
2. Assemble the first draft from your own precedent. If the answers flow straight into your approved clauses, the lawyer reviews a draft instead of typing one. Your precedent stays the legal engine.
3. Flag the risks automatically. Joint tenancy that won't pass under the will, super that needs a nomination, a big change from a previous will, someone else filling in the form. These are the spots where the lawyer's time is worth spending.
4. Take payment upfront, into trust. No invoice chasing. See the trust money rules before you set it up.
5. Batch signings. Set signing sessions, and use remote witnessing under s 8A where it suits the client.
6. Scope and package properly. An enduring power of attorney and a medical treatment decision maker appointment belong in the same conversation. Package them, and write down what the fixed fee includes.

Competing with $160 online wills

Don't compete on price. Compete on what the kit can't do. Moneysmart tells people who use an online will kit to have a solicitor or the Public Trustee check it. State Trustees lists "no assessment of capacity" as a risk of other providers. A lawyer-reviewed will, capacity considered, executed properly, with someone who'll answer the phone when the family needs it, is a different product. The job is to make getting it feel as easy as the kit.