Tax Planning Attorneys in North Dakota

13 tax planning firms in North Dakota, by county and firm type.

State

County

Practice Area

All Areas

Planning ahead

Estate Planning13 Tax Planning13

Settling an estate

Trust Administration7 Probate13

Capacity and care

Elder Law1

Firm Type

Firm listings are for informational purposes only. SimplyTrust does not endorse or recommend any specific firm or attorney. Contact firms directly to discuss your situation and verify their current practice areas and availability.

13 firms

FirmGrand Forks, ND

Camrud, Maddock, Olson & Larson, Ltd.

Since 1932

Grand Forks firm founded in 1932, practicing in North Dakota and Minnesota. Its wills and trusts group handles probate and estate administration, trust administration and drafting, gifting of assets, Medicaid eligibility, and elder law; trust and estate litigation is carried in-house by the commercial litigation group rather than referred out. Mineral succession planning is a named service.

PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax Planning

Office: 401 DeMers Avenue, Suite 500Grand Forks, ND 58201
Phone: (701) 775-5595

FirmFargo, ND

Conmy Feste Ltd.

Since 1879

Fargo firm serving the Fargo-Moorhead area, North Dakota, and northwestern Minnesota. Represents individual and corporate fiduciaries through probate and trust and estate administration, including court filings, and litigates will and trust disputes, land disputes, and contested guardianships in North Dakota and Minnesota state courts. The firm dates to 1879.

PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax PlanningWills

Office: 3369 45th Street SouthFargo, ND 58104
Phone: (701) 353-0454

FirmFargo, ND

Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.

Fargo office of a regional firm, serving the Red River Valley, North Dakota, and northern Minnesota. Its trusts and estates group of more than 30 attorneys and professionals represents personal representatives, trustees, and charitable institutions, and includes nine Fellows of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax PlanningCharitable Planning

Office: 51 Broadway North, Suite 400Fargo, ND 58102
Phone: (701) 237-8200

Solo PracticeBismarck, ND

Law Office of Janel C. Frank

Bismarck practice serving central and western North Dakota. Estate planning runs from wills, powers of attorney, and health care directives through revocable living trusts, mineral trusts, and tax-driven vehicles including GRATs, QPRTs, life insurance trusts, and special needs and charitable trusts. Also advises on ancillary probate for out-of-state decedents.

PracticesEstate PlanningProbateTax Planning

Office: 200 East Main Avenue, Suite 201Bismarck, ND 58501
Phone: (701) 751-7017

FirmCavalier, ND

Fleming, DuBois & Fleming, P.L.L.P.

Serves Cavalier and Pembina counties from Cavalier, with a second office in Walhalla open by appointment. Handles settling a loved one’s estate and navigating probate court, and treats guardianship as a specialty — contested and uncontested, adults and minors, including annual reports and modifying or terminating one. Four attorneys, 80-plus years combined.

PracticesEstate PlanningProbateTax PlanningAgricultural LawReal Estate Law

Office: 208 West Second Avenue SouthCavalier, ND 58220
Phone: (701) 265-8446

Solo PracticeWahpeton, ND

Green Law Firm, P.C.

Solo practice in Wahpeton serving Richland County and the Wahpeton-Breckenridge border communities, licensed in North Dakota and South Dakota. Takes on estate administration for newly appointed personal representatives, welcomes out-of-state executors needing local counsel, and represents excluded heirs in will contests. Free consultations.

PracticesEstate PlanningProbateElder LawTax Planning

Office: 328 Dakota AvenueWahpeton, ND 58075
Phone: (701) 672-1218

Free consultation

FirmMinot, ND

McGee, Hankla & Backes, PC

Since 1901

Minot firm in practice since 1901, with four of its attorneys carrying the estate work. Advises family members, beneficiaries, and creditors through formal and informal probate and intestacy proceedings, will contests, and guardianships, and represents beneficiaries, administrators, executors, and trustees in estate litigation.

PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax Planning

Office: 2400 E Burdick Expy, #100Minot, ND 58701
Phone: (701) 852-2544

FirmGrand Forks, ND

Pearson Christensen, PLLP

Since 1958

Serves both sides of the river from Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, licensed in North Dakota and Minnesota state and federal courts. Handles probate, estates and trusts, simple and complex wills, powers of attorney, and health care directives, with the firm’s litigation team available for disputes arising out of estate matters. Initial consultations carry no attorney’s fee.

PracticesEstate PlanningProbateTax PlanningWills

Office: 24 North 4th StreetGrand Forks, ND 58206
Phone: (701) 775-0521

Free consultation

FirmWahpeton, ND

Smith & Strege, Ltd.

Since 1981

Wahpeton firm across from the Richland County Courthouse, with four attorneys. Provides probate services in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota, and manages estates in other states where clients owned property, which suits families facing an ancillary probate. Elder law covers guardianships, Medicaid, and nursing home issues.

PracticesEstate PlanningProbateTax Planning

Office: 321 Dakota AvenueWahpeton, ND 58075
Phone: (701) 642-2668

Solo PracticeDevils Lake, ND

Swenseth Law Office, PLLC

Serves rural North Dakota from Devils Lake, with meeting space in Grand Forks and Fargo. Handles probate and trust administration, Medicaid asset protection, special needs and life insurance trusts, and farm and business succession for families, farmers, and small businesses. An attorney and a CPA are both on staff, so estate accounting and tax work stay in one office.

PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax PlanningBusiness Succession

Office: 418 Fourth Ave NEDevils Lake, ND 58301
Phone: (701) 662-5058

FirmBismarck, ND

Tschider & Smith

Since 1972

Bismarck firm with three attorneys admitted in North Dakota between 1981 and 2002, practicing estate planning, probate, tax, and business succession. The firm has no website; contact is by phone.

PracticesEstate PlanningProbateTax PlanningBusiness Succession

Office: 2005 N. Kavaney Drive, Suite 100Bismarck, ND 58502
Phone: (701) 258-4000

FirmFargo, ND

Vogel Law Firm

Since 1880 · Serves the whole state

Serves North Dakota and Minnesota from Fargo, Bismarck, and Moorhead. Probate administration covers petitions, inventories and accountings, estate tax returns, and property transfer deeds; the litigation side handles will contests, fiduciary claims, and disputed estate tax matters. Mineral probate is a named intake category.

PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax PlanningBusiness Succession

Office: 218 NP AvenueFargo, ND 58102
Phone: (701) 237-6983

FirmBismarck, ND

Zimmerman Law, P.C.

Bismarck firm with a second office in Napoleon, serving all of North Dakota. Probate and estate administration covers inventories and accountings, federal and state estate tax returns, and property transfer deeds, with in-house accounting so an executor gets the estate accounting and the final return from one office.

PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax PlanningBusiness Succession

Office: 919 S. 7th St., Suite 607Bismarck, ND 58504
Phone: (701) 224-1519

Free consultation

Estate planning attorneys in North Dakota average $319 an hour for wills and estates work. A flat-fee package runs $957 to $1,914 for a simple individual will and $3,540 to $5,310 for a basic revocable trust. An online service prices the same documents in the tens to low hundreds of dollars; the North Dakota will cost calculator sets the two side by side.

In North Dakota, estates valued at $100,000 or less skip probate with the Small Estate Affidavit, 30 days after death. That route is a form rather than a court case, and most families handle it without an attorney. Above the line, formal probate generally benefits from counsel for the procedural work, even when nothing is contested. The North Dakota probate calculator estimates the cost by estate value.

In North Dakota, the situations where counsel is typically worth the cost are: a blended family with children from a prior relationship; a business, rental property or significant investment assets; a dependent with special needs, who needs a special-needs trust to keep benefits; substantial property in more than one state. Where none of these apply, an online or self-help document is often enough.

Filter the directory by county and by the practice area you need, and look for experience with your situation; a board certification in estate planning, trust or probate law is a strong signal. Most North Dakota estate planning attorneys offer an initial consultation, some free and some for a flat fee. Ask up front whether the firm bills by the hour or by package, and what your situation is expected to cost.

Tax Planning Attorneys in North Dakota

Estate planning attorneys in North Dakota charge $319 per hour for wills and estates work. A simple will done through an attorney typically runs $957–$1,914; online services cost $30–$300 for the same document.

North Dakota runs a conventional probate system, so the decision to hire an attorney usually comes down to general factors: blended families, business ownership, special-needs dependents, or property in multiple states. If none of those apply, simpler tools are often enough.

Worth knowing: estates under $100,000 can use North Dakota's simplified affidavit instead of formal probate. If your situation is straightforward and the estate fits, you may not need an attorney at all.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated October 15, 2026

Legal Sources

Data sourced from North Dakota statutes and official state code. How we research.

Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in North Dakota

Free North Dakota forms for planning an estate or settling one: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed, and the probate forms an executor files.

$12/month

Revocable Living Trust

Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.

Get Started

Free

Last Will and Testament

In North Dakota, a will is signed before 2 witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimony.

Get Started

Free

Pour-Over Will

In North Dakota, a pour-over will is signed before 2 witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.

Get Started

All North Dakota forms

Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in North Dakota

Free calculators and checklists for planning or settling an estate in North Dakota: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay, and inheritance taxes.

How Much Are Estate & Inheritance Taxes?

North Dakota levies no estate or inheritance tax; only the federal estate tax applies above $15,000,000.

Use Calculator

What Taxes Apply to My Inheritance?

North Dakota imposes no inheritance or estate tax; probate assets arrive when the estate closes, 4 months to 6 months for a simple estate.

Learn More

How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?

Inherited assets in North Dakota take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death, and the gain on a later sale faces state tax on the 60% of long-term gain left after a 40% exclusion.

Use Calculator

When Do I Have to Withdraw an Inherited IRA?

See which federal withdrawal rules apply to an inherited IRA, Roth IRA, or employer plan, the deadline year, and the missed-withdrawal tax.

Check Withdrawal Rules

What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?

An attorney-prepared revocable trust in North Dakota runs $3,540 to $5,310 and a simple will $957 to $1,914, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.

Compare Costs

All North Dakota tools