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Wills Review
Wednesday, April 24th
2024 Will Service Reviews
Wills
- All wills priced at $75
- Optional online notarization available in some states
- No subscription required
- Free changes for life
Wills comes right out and tells you that they're not a law firm and they don't provide legal advice. And, if you haven't guessed by the name, this service does one thing: wills. It's one of the newer platforms we evaluated, only in business for a few years at the time of this evaluation.
They know it's stressful to create a will
Start by entering your name, email address, and city/state. You'll then be taken to a welcome letter unlike anything we've seen in the process of creating a will - reassuring you that the process might be emotional and overwhelming and that you can take a break anytime. Thanks?
Answer the questions
You'll then be taken to the first of several questionnaires used to fill out your will. While you can't skip around from section to section, you can preview which ones you'll be completing: About You, About Your Will, Family Members, Other Beneficiaries, Residuary Estate, Executor(s), and Prepare to Sign. At any time, you can click on "Preview will" or "Save for later" at the top of the page. You'll have to verify your email before you can do so, and that's also required to find out if you can take advantage of Wills' online notarization (only available in some states).
No fees after you create your will
One plus of using Wills compared with other services is that you pay a one-time fee of $75. That's it. You'll get lifetime changes and no recurring fees. That could be a breath of fresh air compared with subscription-based will creation services or others that charge you for storage after the first year.
Limited but positive feedback from customers
How about reputation? There isn't a ton of client feedback for this will creation website. The handful of reviews we found were mostly positive, saying that they had no problems using Wills to get their documents done quickly or with accessing their accounts at a later date to make changes.
No guarantees or legal advice
Still, we're not completely sure this service is established enough to get our endorsement. We found some obvious typos as we browsed, and it was only by going through the Terms and Conditions that we discovered there is zero satisfaction guarantee here: you pay your $75 and that's that. Plus, since it's not a law firm, there's no legal advice available if you get stuck or if you want to make sure that your will is absolutely acceptable in your state.
Look at other services first, for now
We're stuck feeling middle-of-the-road with Wills. We love the simplicity of the interface and the one-off, no-hidden-fees pricing. On the other hand, there's nothing on the site that addresses how the service goes about making sure that the documents created here are valid in each state. $75 is cheap, but it could be an expensive mistake if you create your will here and then find out that it wasn't prepared according to your state's laws (or your loved ones find that out after the fact). You may want to keep Wills in mind as a backup choice if you don't find another will service you prefer.
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Creating a will can be an emotional process. Most of us don't like to think about leaving our loved ones behind. Who will take care of our pets? Who will be the guardians of our children? Who should receive the family heirlooms? However, having a will can be one of the best - and easiest - ways to make our wishes known, and to spare them from having to make heart-wrenching decisions in the midst of their grief.
Wills are just one document that is often included in estate planning. You may also have heard of Living Trusts, Power of Attorney, Living Wills (also known as Advance Directives), and more. What's the difference among all of them, and which ones do you need?
Will Service FAQ
Continued from above...
Most experts agree that your first priority is to decide between a Will and a Trust. Both will allow you to specify how you want your assets distributed upon your death, but they accomplish this in different ways. The biggest difference is that wills require your estate's distribution to be overseen by a court, known as probate; trusts, on the other hand, skip the probate process altogether and are handled privately. But, trusts can be more complicated to create and establish - transferring real estate and investment accounts into the ownership of the trust - and so it's perfectly acceptable to create a will first, then decide if you need to take the extra steps required for a trust.
Either way, it's a good idea to have a Power of Attorney and Advance Directive as part of your documents too. A Power of Attorney gives a person you specify the authority to act in your behalf: if you're incapacitated and you need someone to pay a bill, get information from a doctor, or make arrangements for your care, someone with Power of Attorney can do those things.
Advance Directives (often consisting of a Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare) give you the ability to state what interventions you want (or don't) if you become unable to communicate. In other words, your will or trust details your wishes after you die, and a Power of Attorney and Advance Directive gives you say-so over what you prefer while you're alive.
Fortunately, creating a will doesn't have to be time-consuming, especially if you've already given some thought to your preferences. There are a number of services online that can help you draft your will within a matter of minutes and have it ready for printing, witnessing, and notarization. Which one is right for you? Here are some factors to consider:
- One-time fee or subscription-based. Some will creation services charge a one-time fee to make the document, while others (typically those that provide legal documents for a variety of other purposes) have a month-to-month subscription. Those membership-based plans often have a one-week free trial; as long as you cancel before the time period ends, you could very likely create your will for no cost.
- Document storage. How will your documents be maintained? Can you access them as long as you want and make changes, or is there an expiration date? Will you have to pay ongoing digital storage fees?
- Access for loved ones. Will your family members, executor, or other relevant individuals be able to access your will online after you die? Does the will creation service offer any means of storing your signed copies, or is that on you?
- Reputation. What do clients say about their experience with the will creation service? Is it easy to use? Were there any issues canceling the free trial? What does the Better Business Bureau say about the company?
To help you with your estate planning, TopConsumerReviews.com has reviewed and ranked the most popular will creation services available today. We're sure that this information will make it easy, affordable, and relatively hassle-free to get this important task checked off your to-do list.
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