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Shariawiz Review 2023
Shariawiz offers estate planning forms that are compliant with both US state laws and Sharia rules of inheritance. The company offers a will-based estate plan package for $199 and a trust-based estate plan package for $499. The documents created by this service are approved by Sharia scholars, and the company also offers live customer support, so it’s an excellent option for Muslim Americans.
Have you tried this company? How would you rate your experience?
Shariawiz is an online will-making service for Muslim Americans. Shariawiz estate planning documents include a Sharia-compliant last will and testament, living will, living trust, and financial power of attorney. One unique feature that this service offers to its clients is the Shariawiz calculator, which allows people to calculate what share of their estate each family member should receive according to Islamic law.
Credibility: Is Shariawiz Legit?
Established in
2020
Registered in
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Google Rating
BBB grade
A (Accredited)
Shariawiz is a relatively new company that does not have any reviews on Google as of May 2021, while its application to the BBB is still pending. It is also not a law firm; therefore, it should not be used as a complete substitute for attorney advice. At the same time, Shariawiz was created together with Sharia scholars, and the service is widely regarded by Islamic scholars and organizations all over the world. The service has been audited by Raqaba and endorsed by Dr. Wael Hallaq, Imam Zaid Shakir, Dalia Mogahed, and others. Additionally, the company's partners include Islamic Relief, the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs North America (SCIANA), IslamiCity, and numerous other organizations. Because of everything listed above, we can conclude that the service is well-respected in the Islamic world.
Is Shariawiz safe? Is Shariawiz secure?
To ensure the safety of its clients, Shariawiz transmits sensitive information using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and requires users to enter a password to access their accounts. Their platform also uses Amazon Web Services (AWS), which implements robust security protocols to prevent cyberattacks. As a result, you can be certain that the information you enter on Shariawiz will remain safe.
Shariawiz Services and Pricing
Shariawiz customers can choose between several packages of estate planning documents. The Islamic Will Package includes an Islamic will, Islamic inheritance appendix, community property agreement, financial power of attorney, and health care directive/living will. This is a useful suite of documents that addresses many basic estate planning needs.
Next, the Islamic Trust Package includes an Islamic trust, Islamic pour-over will, Islamic inheritance law appendix, certification of trust, guide to funding your trust, health care directive/living will, financial power of attorney, and community property agreement. This is a more sophisticated plan.
Finally, the company also offers a Family Waqf Package which includes two copies (one for each spouse) of all the documents in the Islamic Trust Package. The only differences are that instead of the Islamic trust, this package includes a Family Waqf/Trust, and also doesn’t include a community property agreement.
Services
one-doc
Package 1 Will-Based Estate Plan
Package 2 Trust-Based Estate Plan
Subscription
Last will and testament
Living will
Living trust
Medical Power of Attorney *
Financial Power of Attorney
$199
$499
* Medical Power of Attorney is included with the Living Will
Islamic Will
Just like a secular will, an Islamic will outlines all the assets in your estate and expresses your wishes as to how those assets should be distributed to your Islamic heirs after you pass away. In addition, an Islamic will is compliant with Sharia law guidelines for estate distribution. Unlike other companies, Shariawiz allows the person creating the will to give Final Instructions in their own words, allowing you to keep your voice when expressing your final wishes.
Health Care Directive
Shariawiz provides the only Sharia-compliant health care directive. This document combines a living will with medical power of attorney. A medical power of attorney allows you to appoint a person who will make decisions regarding your healthcare if you are incapacitated. Shariawiz offers the only healthcare directive that allows for Sharia-compliant organ donations. A living will is used to instruct your family and medical staff to follow Islamic principles when making end-of-life decisions. While medical staff will traditionally strive to honor religious requests from the family, you can avoid the potential of stressful legal hurdles or run-ins with hospital protocol if you have a certified living will ready to go.
Financial Power of Attorney
This document appoints a person who can make financial and legal decisions on your behalf. This is especially important with larger and/or more complicated estates, as well as situations where there could be a conflict of interest based on who stands to inherit your assets.
Islamic Trust
A Shariawiz trust can be used to transfer ownership of your estate to a trustee who can then manage and distribute the assets in line with Islamic law. Shariawiz is the only service that offers a Sharia-compliant Islamic trust-based estate plan in the US.
Marital Agreements Specific to Each State
Depending on the estate laws of the state where you reside, you may need to prepare a Marital Waiver of Elective Share or a Community Property Agreement to ensure that your property is distributed according to your will. Shariawiz provides these documents together with the last will when necessary.
Attorney Support
Shariawiz is not a law firm, so they are not authorized to give legal advice and they do not provide attorney consultations or advice to their clients. However, if you have a complicated estate or simply want to use an attorney instead of a website to create your will, their customer support can provide you with the contact information of law firms that specialize in estate planning.
Shariawiz: Strengths
Speed – you can have a Sharia-compliant will in just 15 minutes.
Approved by Sharia scholars – all forms are created by lawyers in collaboration with Sharia experts.
They uphold the Islamic charitable giving tradition – Shariawiz hopes to reignite the Sadaqah Jariyaa tradition by donating part of their proceeds to Muslim projects and organizations.
Helpful prompts – as you are creating a will, Shariawiz will show you useful reminders, religious insights, and other tips.
Live customer service – the website offers customer support by phone during standard business hours (9-5 EST Monday through Friday). Outside of these hours, customers can submit questions via email. The emails are moderated continuously in the evenings and during the weekend.
Shariawiz: Weaknesses
Not suitable for complex estates – if your family situation and estate are unusually complicated, you should hire a lawyer to create a will for you.
New on the market – since Shariawiz is a new platform, you may encounter some technical issues when using it and it may not have all the services you need.
High price – the cost of services is higher compared to online will prices set by other providers. However, the services offered by Shariawiz are very comprehensive, so the price is justified.
Compare Shariawiz
Payment structure
Flat fee
Free trial
No
Guarantees
30-day money-back guarantee
States covered
All except LA
Attorney Support
By referral
Attorney Cost
Determined by attorney
In this section, you can see how Shariawiz compares to its competitors. It's important to note that Islamic wills are significantly different from secular wills offered by most online will makers. While you may be able to use a secular will-maker to create your will, it's best to choose Shariawiz if you specifically need a Sharia-compliant will, as they are the only Islamic online will-making service that offers an entire suite of estate planning documents. Their primary Sharia-compliant competitor, MyWassiyah, only offers last will and testament forms
Number of documents offered by different will makers
Shariawiz offers 5 to 7 documents
Number of Documents Offered
Shariawiz offers a total of five Islamic estate planning documents. These include an Islamic last will and testament, living will, living trust, financial power of attorney, and medical power of attorney, which is included in the living will. While some other online will-makers offer a larger selection of documents, those forms are not fully compliant with Sharia laws and are therefore likely not suitable for Muslim Americans. The only other company that offers Islamic estate planning documents is MyWassiyah, but their selection of forms only has a last will and testament and a marital property agreement. Thus, if you want to create a comprehensive online estate plan compliant with both state laws and Sharia rules of inheritance, Shariawiz will be the best option.
Payment structure offered by different will makers
Shariawiz offers package-only payment options
Payment Structure
Shariawiz customers can choose from three document package options: the Islamic will-based package, the Islamic trust-based package, and the Family Waqf package. Estate planning packages are an excellent choice for people who want to get a comprehensive Sharia-compliant estate plan and save money in the process.
Availability of money-back guarantees offered by different will makers
Shariawiz offers a money-back guarantee
Guarantees
If you’re not happy with the service provided by Shariawiz, you will be able to get a refund within 30 days of purchase. This is a great opportunity for people who are unsure about creating an estate plan online, as you will be able to see the quality of the documents you get. And if you don’t like the forms for any reason, you can get your money back, so there is no risk.
Availability of attorney support offered by different will makers
Shariawiz offers by referral attorney support
Attorney Support
Shariawiz does not provide legal advice to its customers, as it’s not a law firm. However, the company can put you in touch with licensed attorneys who know the intricacies of both state and Islamic law. These professionals can provide consultations or check your documents. While these services won’t be free, it will be significantly less expensive than having an Islamic will drawn up by an attorney from scratch. MyWassiyah, the other Sharia-compliant online estate planning company, does not connect its customers with attorneys.
Free document update period offered by different will makers
Shariawiz offers an unlimited free document update period
Free Document Update Period
Shariawiz generously offers its customers unlimited document updates for life. This is a great offer, as over time you may buy or sell property, grow your family, or have other life changes that would require adjustments to these documents. And if you create your forms with Shariawiz, you won’t have to pay for the updated documents. This can potentially save you thousands of dollars over the years. In this regard, Shariawiz is a better option than MyWassiyah, since the latter doesn’t offer any free document updates.
Phone app availability offered by different will makers
Shariawiz does not have a phone app
Phone App Availability
Unfortunately, Shariawiz does not have a mobile app, so people who want to use a smartphone or tablet to create an estate plan may have a hard time doing so. However, you can still use a mobile browser to view and use the website, or you can use a laptop or desktop computer to create your Islamic will.
Ease of Use
Instructions
Yes
Output format
PDF
Turnaround Time
Instant
Platform
Web
Updates
Unlimited
Shariawiz makes it very easy to create a will or a trust if you have a simple estate. The interface of the website is user-friendly: customers are given helpful tips and useful information about Islamic will-making, and you can view the document you’ve prepared before paying for it.
Customer Review Analysis
One of the best ways to evaluate whether a certain service provider is a good fit for you is to look at their reviews. But who’s got time to read and compare hundreds of online will-making service reviews? Well, you don’t need to worry, as we did it for you. Our experts read and evaluated over 2,000 reviews of online estate planning services and categorized them as positive, negative, and mixed. You can read about how Shariawiz compares to them below.
Distribution of Shariawiz reviews compared to industry-wide average
After reviewing online customer feedback for Shariawiz, we found that the company’s customers only had good things to say about its services. Thus, all online reviews of Shariawiz were positive, and there were no negative or mixed reviews.
Shariawiz
Industry Average
100%
90%
Positive, %
0%
8%
Negative, %
0%
2%
Mixed, %
Data was compiled from 1938 reviews about 17 different companies across 7 review sites. Shariawiz had 6 reviews
Most frequently given reasons for liking or disliking Shariawiz
Our next objective was to show our readers the pros and cons of various online will-making platforms. To do this, we analyzed the key reasons for liking or disliking the services that reviewers gave in their online feedback. A significant number of Shariawiz users praised the platform's well-designed documents and helpful customer support. In total, more reviewers mentioned these pros compared to the reviews of other companies. Many users also found the platform easy to use. Since Shariawiz didn’t receive any negative online reviews, we didn’t find any information about the aspects of the service that users didn’t like.
Positive
Shariawiz
Industry Average
33%
32%
Easy to use
22%
10%
Well-designed documents
22%
0%
Convenient app
Negative
Shariawiz
Industry Average
Not Enough Data
Data was compiled from 3611 apparent reasons from 1938 reviews. Shariawiz data had 9 reasons in 6 reviews
Distribution of reviews by service type
Unlike many other online will makers, Shariawiz offers only estate planning documents. Plus, this company has an even more narrow specialization because it offers online estate planning services only to people who adhere to Islam.
Shariawiz
Industry Average
100%
42%
Estate related
0%
13%
Non estate related
0%
44%
Unknown
Data was compiled from 1938 reviews about 17 different companies across 7 review sites. Shariawiz had 6 reviews
Unique Functions Offered by Shariawiz
Here are some Shariawiz features that are unique to their site:
Inheritance Calculator
Shariawiz inheritance calculator allows you to calculate what share of your estate should go to each of your Islamic relatives. This is the only Islamic inheritance calculator certified by religious scholars that’s available in English.
Shariawiz Halaqa
This is a resource center where users can find facts about Islamic law. All the articles are written by Sharia experts to provide accurate and detailed information on different aspects of Islamic inheritance.
Unique Sharia-compliant solutions
ShariaWiz has developed several Sharia-compliant legal solutions that are unique to the US Islamic estate planning market. For instance, the website allows you to add charitable bequests to your will, put your wife's contributions to the marriage as a debt against your estate, and provide a life estate in a residence to your wife or husband. Additionally, there are several Sharia-compliant inheritance options for individuals with non-Muslim relatives and those who don't have any Islamic heirs.
FAQ
What is included in a standard estate plan?
An estate plan typically consists of a last will and testament, power of attorney, and living will.
How is an Islamic will different from a secular will?
An Islamic will contains the same information as a secular will, meaning it lists obligations that need to be paid upon your demise, provides bequests, and states your wishes regarding end-of-life matters and burial rituals. The main difference is that an Islamic will seeks to divide your estate in accordance with Sharia inheritance rules.
Is it possible to create a joint Sharia-compliant will with your spouse?
No, a joint will where each of the spouses leaves the other person their entire estate is not permitted under Islamic law, since each spouse has certain gender-specific obligations to fulfill.
How do I update the forms I created with Shariawiz?
To update the documents you created with Shariawiz, just visit the website’s Dashboard and make the necessary changes.
What is the Shariawiz refund policy?
If you are not happy with the services Shariawiz provided, you can request a refund within 30 days of purchase.
Bottom Line
Shariawiz was created by a team of lawyers and Sharia experts. It is a new service that’s still being developed and updated, but the company is already well-regarded by members of the Islamic community all over the world. The platform allows customers to create many common estate planning documents, including Islamic trusts and comprehensive packages of documents. The company also has a robust app available on both Android and iOS devices, and the reviews so far have been overwhelmingly positive. Shariawiz is a useful estate planning tool for Muslim Americans and can help many people save money on attorney services. However, individuals with unique or complicated estate situations may need to use additional legal resources for end-of-life planning.
