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Online will preparation costs explained

Ranges of online will making costs, based on 18 providers, 2023
Minimum costAverage costMaximum cost
Single document (e.g. last will)$20$50$89
Estate-planning package$69$179$399
Unlimited monthly subscription$10$33$40

How much do wills cost? This is a question that usually comes up when people start thinking about estate planning. In most cases, the average cost of a will made in-person with your lawyer is significantly higher than that of a will created online, which is why more and more people are choosing online will makers for their estate planning needs. Today, there are more than a dozen online will-making websites where you can make a will from the comfort and safety of your own home. The price of a will depends on the documents you need and the provider you choose.

Online Will Making Costs

Each will-making website has its own selection of documents and their prices vary considerably, with the average cost of making a will being around $50. Some will makers also offer estate planning packages, which can save you a significant amount of money if you need to make several documents. The average cost of an estate planning package is $179. Additionally, unlimited monthly subscriptions are offered by a number of providers for people who need to make frequent updates to their wills. These subscriptions cost $33 per month, on average.

Online will cost comparison tool

Company Last will and testament Living will Medical Power of Attorney Financial Power of Attorney TotalPromo
US Legal Wills $100 i
15% off
Claim
NOLO $139 i
10% off
Claim
Trust & Will $159 i
$10 off
Claim
Rocket Lawyer $40 $40 $40 $40 $160
7-Day Free Trial
Claim
eForms $45 $45 $45 $45 $180
7-Day Free Trial
Claim
Shariawiz $199 i
n/a
Visit
LegalZoom $249 i
n/a
Visit

Compare the Costs of Making a Will Online

With so many options to choose from, OnlineWillMakers.com makes it easy to compare the cost of wills and trusts on different websites. Above, you can find a tool that will help you compare the prices of wills and other estate planning documents in different online services. The tool has two modes: One-Time Fee and Subscription. In the One-Time Fee mode, you will be able to compare the cost of creating each estate planning document on different websites. In the Subscription mode, you can compare the prices of estate planning subscriptions from different companies and the documents included in them.

Ultimately, you have three options to choose from when it comes to estate planning:

Single Document

This option is ideal if you need to make one or two documents, and you don’t anticipate that you’ll need to make changes to them any time soon. Some companies that offer will-making packages or subscriptions also sell separate documents and charge a higher per-document price.

Estate Planning Package

Some companies offer estate planning packages that contain several documents at a bulk price. Usually, these companies offer two types of packages: one with a trust and another one without it. For instance, Trust&Will offers will-based estate plans starting at $89 and trust-based plans starting at $399 with unlimited free updates for 1 year included in the price.

Estate Planning Subscription

Subscriptions are ideally suited for people whose estates change frequently or those who want the ability to update their wills often. After buying a subscription from most providers, you get access not only to estate planning forms, but also a trove of resources and documents for business, real estate, financial and other matters. Many companies also offer a free 7-day trial period during which you can create and update as many documents as you want.

Additional services that influence will preparation costs

To provide their customers with a higher quality service, some companies also have teams of lawyers and estate planning specialists who provide consultations, and can also check wills or other documents customers have created using their site. These consultations might be provided for free as part of a subscription (e.g. Rocket Lawyer) or package (e.g. LegalZoom), or they may be offered as an optional service at an additional price.

Many companies also offer a money-back guarantee, which ensures that if you aren’t satisfied with the service, you won’t have to pay for it.

Can I Make a Will For Free?

There are a few companies that offer free online will-making services. Typically, these are life insurance companies that use free wills to attract customers to their site and ultimately sell them other services. As a result, free wills offered by these companies can be used only in very simple cases. Plus, these free wills may not be valid in all states and might fail to meet the legal requirements of many jurisdictions.

Online Will Cost: Case Study

So far in this article, we have discussed the cost of wills and trusts in detail. Now, let’s take a look at a case study to help you understand how you can use our will price comparison tool to find the best deal on estate planning documents.

Let’s say you need to have three documents drawn up: last will and testament, living will, and financial power of attorney. All you have to do is open the price comparison tool on this page and check the boxes next to the three documents. You will then see the price of each document from each vendor in the table. You can also switch the table to the Subscription mode to see whether those documents are offered as part of estate planning subscriptions and how much those subscriptions cost.

For instance, US Legal Wills allows their customers to create a last will and testament for $39.95, a living will for $19.95, and financial power of attorney for $29.95. You can also have these documents checked by the company’s lawyer for $60.

Alternatively, you can purchase the same documents from eForms for $45 each or buy a subscription for $39 a month with a free 7-day trial period. In addition to the three documents listed above, a subscription will allow you to make numerous personal, business and real estate documents without additional fees. Plus, you will be able to make unlimited changes to the documents as long as your subscription is valid.

NOLO offers an estate planning package that comes in the form of will-making software. The software gives you access to over 35 documents for estate planning, personal finance, etc. for just $99.

Final Words About Online Will Costs

Making a will online is significantly cheaper than having a lawyer draw it up for you, but even then, there are many things that influence the price of a will. Depending on your needs, you can choose to buy an estate planning package with multiple documents included in the price, a subscription that includes several documents and allows you to make unlimited changes to those documents, or a single document if that’s all you need. Our free will price comparison tool will allow you to easily analyze will prices from different providers and find the best option for you. You can also check our online will maker reviews to compare services and features offered by different providers.