7 Online Websites that Allow You to Make a Will

You need a will. Even if you’re in pretty good health, if you’re an adult, you should create a will. Many people would benefit from making an appointment with an attorney to create their will. If there’s anything complicated about your family situation, your business situation, or how you want your belongings divided after your death, then you should go ahead and meet with a lawyer to create your will.

Some people have simple enough desires and belongings that the hourly fee of hiring an attorney really feels unnecessary. If you fall into that category, you’re lucky to live in a time in which other options abound. You can easily find an array of websites available that can help you through the process of creating a legally valid will on your own. In many states, you’ll also need to sign it with the appropriate witnesses present to make it 100% valid, but even so, it’s a pretty simple process.

Here are some of the main options out there.

1. Rocket Lawyer (www.rocketlawyer.com)

Rocket Lawyer provides a free option for creating a will on their website. You simply choose your state from the drop-down menu, answer all the questions they ask in order to fill in the blanks in the document, and print and sign your will once it’s complete. The website only recommends that you use this service if your estate is worth less than $5,340. If you have more than that, the document can help you go into your meeting with a lawyer better prepared, but probably shouldn’t be treated as your final legal will.

2. Do Your Own Will (www.doyourownwill.com)

The Do Your Own Will website works similarly to Rocket Lawyer. You provide some basic information and the website automatically fills in a document that you can then download once it’s complete. The service is free and the website insists that the document should be sufficient for most people under the age of 65 with assets less than $5 million.

3. Willing (www.willing.com)

Willing has an intuitive site design and promises fast results – most people can complete their will within ten minutes or less. The service is free, secure, and offers unlimited revisions. It’s probably one of the fastest and simplest of the options available.

4. Legacy Writer (www.legacywriter.com)

Legacy Writer is yet another website that offers a completely free service for creating your will online. You go through the website’s online interview process and then you can print out the completed product, along with instructions for what you need to do next to make the will valid in your state. They also offer a Total Legal plan for a monthly fee that makes it possible to receive advice from attorneys, if you’re feeling a little out of your depth, but don’t want to commit to an appointment with an attorney in person. 

5. Legal Zoom (www.legalzoom.com)

Legal Zoom is a website that provides a range of different legal documents. The cost of using Legal Zoom to create a will starts at $69, but you can get your will along with other important end-of-life legal documents in the estate plan bundle for $149 – far less than visiting with a lawyer. They claim that most people complete their will within 15 minutes and they have specialists on staff you can chat with if you have any questions or problems.

6. NOLO (www.nolo.com)

NOLO offers an online will form that you can fill out for $34.99. The website will store your will for up to one year, so you have some time to make changes without having to complete a new document from scratch.  

7. Free Lawyer (www.freelawyer.com)

FreeLawyer.com offers free will forms online and even lets you store the will you create on their website without any fee. The website walks you through the steps of completing your will and, like many of the other websites, suggests that most people complete the process within 15 minutes. If you want to come back and make an update to your will later, it’s still there for you.

As you can see, you’ve got plenty of options. As long as you don’t have extensive assets or complicated desires for what happens to your belongings after you die, you can have a will completed at no cost within 10-15 minutes. There’s no excuse. Creating your will can make things much easier on your family after you pass, so go ahead and get it done.

Kristen Hicks

Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based copywriter and lifelong student with an ongoing curiousity to learn and explore new things. She turns that interest to researching and exploring subjects helpful to seniors and their families for SeniorAdvisor.com.