Best Online Will Makers

Quicken, an internationally renowned personal finance and money management software company, partners with DIY legal guide publisher Nolo to offer WillMaker & Trust, to offer a robust online will maker that combines both companies' expertise.

There are three pricing tiers to choose from based on your needs:

• The $99 Starter plan is a basic annual plan with which you can establish a will, a health care directive, and final wishes. You can create and revise documents as needed. You can also store your documents with the plan's data vault. And even if your membership status lapses, you can still access your documents.
• The $139 Plus annual plan gives you everything the basic plan offers, but it also lets you draft a durable power of attorney, letters to survivors, and a living trust.
• The $209 All Access annual plan gives you access to everything included in the Plus plan, but you'll also get access to Everplans' smart digital vault. With this vault, you can digitally store all your important documents, including your will, trust, health care directive, insurance details, and financial records, in one place. It's a nice perk since Everplans' digital storage services have a significant cost on their own.

Nolo's Quicken WillMaker & Trust's PC software has good customer reviews, but there are a couple of weak spots to be aware of. The first is that estate planning documents are not valid in Louisiana, U.S. territories, or Canada. The second is that you have to download the software to your computer, meaning you must have a PC or Mac with a compatible operating system and enough hard drive space. If you don't have a PC or a Mac, you'll need to find another option.

Despite these drawbacks, Quicken WillMaker & Trust by Nolo is the most comprehensive, affordable online will-making option we've found.

Founded in 2017, Trust & Will aims to make estate planning simple, affordable, and accessible, and it's our choice for the best value in online will makers. You can make a will in as little as 15 minutes, and you can even choose for the company to mail your completed documents for free, along with instructions to make them legally binding.

The company's trust product–$499 for individuals and $599 for couples–allows you to:

• Name an executor
• Leave gifts
• Exclude people from your property
• Specify your final arrangements
• List your health care wishes
• Designate healthcare agents
• Grant access to health care records
• Add conditions to contributions
• Avoid probate court

You'll get a revocable living trust, schedule of assets, last will and testament, HIPAA authorization, a living will, power of attorney, trust funding guide, and a certification of trust.

Trust & Will's will service, which will run individuals $199 and couples $299, will give you access to everything the trust tier provides except for adding conditions to contributions and avoiding probate court. Your documents for this service include a last will and testament, HIPAA authorization, a living will, and a power of attorney.

You'll also get a year of unlimited updates for all products. The company offers the option to purchase updates and other services beyond the first year for a yearly subscription price of $19 for wills and $39 for trusts.

While it's a great value for many, you'll want to pick another service if you have a business, investment property, children from a different spouse or partner, or another complex family situation.

Unlike other online will makers that allow you to make your will during a free trial period, doyourownwill.com from Electronic Forms LLC, is always free.

You get a will that's valid in all 50 states that can be downloaded in Microsoft Word or PDF format instantly. Plus, you can duplicate it for your spouse.

The site prompts you to answer questions about your personal circumstances, including your gender, marital status, and whether you have minor children. Next, you'll fill in your name and residential address and answer questions about your beneficiaries, including how much of your estate your spouse and children will receive in the event of your death. And you'll name an executor and choose at which age–18 or 21–your minor children can claim the proceeds of their trust.

Additionally, you can make gifts of specific personal property and designate your memorial preferences.

Doyourownwill.com is best for people with simple distribution plans with property and assets less than the threshold for federal estate taxes: $12.92 million. Furthermore, anyone with significant assets, even under the estate tax threshold, would be better served by consulting an attorney for their estate planning needs. Still, doyourownwill.com is a great all-around tool for free estate planning.

Willing is an online will-making service offering an easy user experience. While there are limitations to the lowest-cost plan, it’s still a comprehensive online will maker that will meet the needs of those who are tech-averse or feel overwhelmed by the thought of creating their will, and it is our pick as the best for ease of use.

For $69, you get a last will and testament, a durable power of attorney, and a living will. A revocable living trust and transfer-on-death deed for your home are also available but may cost more. You can make updates and download your documents anytime. You can make updates and download your documents anytime.

Note that Willing does not include pet guardianship. If that is important to you, you might want to consider using doyourownwill.com instead.

FreeWill is our choice for best for charitable giving because it's a public benefit corporation that partners with nonprofit organizations and helps people donate part of their estate to charity. From over 757,000 wills created on FreeWill, more than $7.5 billion has been committed to charity.

Establishing a will through the FreeWill platform is straightforward. You provide your name, marital status, and the legal names of your spouse and children, if applicable. You can name an executor, assign a legal guardian for your children, and even choose how much you want to leave for the care of your pets. Then FreeWill gives you the option to choose a cause to include in your will. You enter the percentage of your residual estate you wish to leave to this nonprofit.

Once you've selected a cause, you move back to the more practical matters of splitting up your estate among your chosen beneficiaries. You can also choose who will inherit non-probate assets like stocks, life insurance, and 401(k)s. You can even leave a final statement for your family.

FreeWill is a great choice whether you plan to donate part of your estate or not, but as with any online will maker, it is best suited for those with straightforward estates.

Having served 25 million customers, Rocket Lawyer is our choice for best customer service among the online will makers we reviewed.

Rocket Lawyer charges $39.99 per month or $239.99 per year for a subscription. The subscription comes with a seven-day free trial, but if you cancel after making your will, you will not be able to get updates. In addition to wills and estate planning documents, the subscription allows you to make a wide variety of other types of legal documents. Subscribers can contact a lawyer with questions, and get a 30-minute consultation with an attorney for each new legal matter. Members who wish to hire a lawyer also get a 40% discount on attorneys in Rocket Lawyer's network.

Legal matters tend to come with a lot of jargon and confusing situations, Rocket Lawyer's access to attorneys and great customer service are an excellent option for resolving your questions.