Trust & Will

Trust & Will Review

As its name suggests, Trust & Will lets you create trust, will, and guardianship documents quickly and for very reasonable rates. If you choose to forgo the personal attorney route, the platform will provide you with custom, state-specific legal documents to plan your estate.

By no means has Trust & Will cornered the market on estate planning services; there are several companies that offer similar packages. However, Trust & Will stands out to us for its efficency. The website clearly explains its services and prices and even has a robust learning center you can access to learn more about estate planning. Their platform is especially useful for simple estates. You can download your documents or request a complimentary shipment of printed copies in minutes.

We appreciate the company’s powerful data encryption to protect your information. Though Trust & Will does not offer phone support, we tested its chat feature and found the agents to be responsive and helpful.

Pros

• Option to purchase “individual” and “couple” plans
• Unlimited updates during the first year
• Efficient way to create legally-binding documents for simpler estates
• Step-by-step written guidance, including most common answers

Cons

• Attorney support only available in certain states
• Additional annual fee after the first year required to update documents

Trust & Will Features and Benefits

In addition to necessary estate planning documents, Trust & Will membership comes with these benefits:

Share access: The option to share documents with loved ones, financial advisors, and other professionals so they can access your estate plan in a virtual format.

Customer support: Trust & Will doesn’t have phone support, but your questions can be addressed in a timely manner via email and a readily-available chat feature. If you’d prefer to speak to someone on the phone or in person, you’d need to purchase the Attorney Support service or engage chat representatives.

Account security: All documents are encrypted on the platform, which means your personal information is safe and secure. Trust & Will promises not to sell your information.

Attorney review: Access to personalized legal support from an attorney in your state. As of 2022, attorney support add-ons are only available in these 11 states and the District of Columbia: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

How Trust & Will Works

First, you’ll choose a membership plan. Upon purchase, you’ll receive legal documents that are built by real attorneys and that are specific to your state.

Navigating Trust & Wills’ online creator is easy—regardless of your technical prowess. The online creator has a user-friendly design with simple form-fill questions to complete your documents. Similar to a tax software program, you simply answer the questions and input information to generate your paperwork.

Then, download your documents or have them mailed to you for free. Depending on your state requirements, you’ll need to sign your documents alongside two witnesses and get them notarized to make them legally binding.

Policy for Updating Your Trusts & Wills

When selecting a service to help plan your estate, you should look for companies that allow revisions and edits as your needs change. Trust & Will offers an unlimited amount of free updates for a year. Simply access your saved files on the platform and update them as needed.

Beyond the first year, you’ll pay a smaller fee to continue your membership and edit your documents.

Trust & Will vs. Using an Attorney

Though Trust & Will enlists attorneys to help build their legal documents, the company is not a law firm. This means you should consult a lawyer or financial advisor on estate planning steps that are specific to your needs. Trust & Will allows you to share files or loop in your advisor as needed. It’s important to know that its documents are built using standard language to accommodate a wide range of customer scenarios, save for certain customization features.

Many customers praise Trust & Will for its affordability and access to a comprehensive portfolio of estate planning forms. These are especially useful if you need to create a standard trust or will without paying high attorney fees.

If you’d prefer extra peace of mind, Trust & Will offers one year of unlimited support from a licensed attorney who will review your documents line-by-line and offer input. This service costs $200 and is currently available in 11 states and the District of Columbia.

Trust & Will Costs

Choose from three different pricing structures, depending on your needs. Trust & Will costs between $39 and $599 for one year of access to Guardian, Will, or Trust services. If you want to draft a trust, living will, HIPAA authorization, or authorize a power of attorney, you’ll need to purchase the Will or Trust plan, as the Guardian plan does not include a will.

Upon purchase, you unlock access to numerous features and benefits throughout the year, including unlimited edits. However, you’ll need to continue with the annual service (at a deeply discounted rate) to update, revise, and store documents.

Trust & Will offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you added Attorney Support, it is non-refundable after seven days of purchase or after you’ve met once with your attorney.

Trust & Will Complaints

Trust & Will maintains an “excellent” rating on Trustpilot. Roughly 97% of its 2,300+ reviews are four and five stars, with reviewers stating that the platform was easy to navigate and the general guidance offered throughout the process was detailed and actionable compared to competitor services. For instances where reviews skewed negative, Trust & Will representatives responded within 24 hours with a resolution.

The Trust & Will Better Business Bureau profile lacks reviews, but it boasts an A+ rating—a score the BBB only gives to transparent, reliable, and reputable companies.

Trust & Will FAQs

• What information do I need to prepare a trust?

  To prepare a trust with Trust & Will, you’ll need:

  1. A name for your trust
  2. Basic information about you, your family, and your pets
  3. The name of the person you’ll designate as guardian of your children and pets

  A person to name as Successor Trustee to manage your trust and distribute your assets

  4. Names of individuals you’d like to receive your assets; this could be family members, specific individuals, or charities
  5. Preferences for your final arrangements
  6. Information about your assets to help your Successor Trustee and Beneficiaries collect and distribute your Estate (optional)

• Can you update your documents with Trust & Will?

  Trust & Will offers free, unlimited updates for a year. After a year, you’ll pay a nominal fee of $12 to $39 to continue using the service and update your documents as needed.

• Is Trust & Will legitimate?

  Even though Trust & Will is a newer company, it holds its own among other estate planning services due to its easy-to-use platform. The platform is intentionally designed for fast document creation. The trust services are slightly more expensive than at other companies, but you’ll get access to everything you need to create a trust, like access to an attorney, multiple types of documents, detailed learning resources and more.

  Better Business Bureau accredits Trust & Will with an A+ rating and excellent reviews on Trustpilot. The Trust & Will support team is available seven days a week.

• Who is Trust & Will best for?

  Attorney fees for trusts are substantial. Trust & Will is a reputable solution for those who want a more affordable way to draft legally-binding estate planning documents.

  The people who will likely find the company most useful are homeowners with a modest amount of personal possessions and conventional assets for retirement. Trust & Will does ask if you’d like to designate a guardian for your pets, but there are no qualifiers relating to family members with special needs. If you have to consider special needs or other complex familial situations while planning your estate, you might consider other avenues that offer more personalized advice.

• How secure is Trust & Will?

  Trust & Will leverages encryption security methods to protect your information. Specifically, the website advertises “bank-level encryption” and promises to never share or sell your information without consent.

Conclusion

Trust & Will is an excellent choice for fast, affordable planning for simple estates. Its documents are state-specific and informed by industry experts. You can engage a responsive chat feature as needed and leverage attorney support for one year (as an upgrade).