LegalZoom vs Quicken WillMaker: is a lawyer on call worth the difference?

LegalZoom and Quicken WillMaker & Trust are at opposite ends of online estate planning. LegalZoom is the biggest legal brand, and its higher tiers bundle a lawyer you can phone. WillMaker is do-it-yourself software from Nolo, the legal publisher, with no lawyer at all and a price to match. Most people comparing the two are really asking one question: is having an attorney available worth what LegalZoom charges for it?

This comparison answers that by matching their plans tier by tier, adding up three years, and spelling out what the attorney access actually covers. All figures come from each company’s own pages, read on the date shown in the facts table. We have not bought either yet.

Same price, very different contents

The clearest way to see the difference is to put the two companies’ plans at the same price side by side.

Price	LegalZoom gives you	WillMaker gives you
Entry tier	Basic Will at $129: the will only, 30 days of revisions	Starter at $109: wills, health care directive, final arrangements, a year of revisions
$149	Pro Will: will, health care directive, medical and financial powers of attorney, HIPAA form, 30 days of attorney calls that then renew at $25/month after 30 days	Plus: everything in Starter plus financial power of attorney, living trust, transfer-on-death deed, letter to survivors, and the download version, for you and your immediate family

At the same price, WillMaker’s Plus plan includes a living trust and covers your spouse. LegalZoom’s Pro Will covers one person, includes no trust, and comes with a month of attorney access that turns into a monthly bill if you do not cancel it.

What about a living trust?

	LegalZoom	WillMaker
One person	$399 (Basic Trust)	$149 (Plus)
Couple	$499	$149 (same plan)
With a year of attorney calls	$549 (Premium Trust)	Not available

LegalZoom’s Basic Trust is a complete package: the trust, a pour-over will, health care directive, both powers of attorney, HIPAA form, certificate of trust, schedule of assets and a bill of transfer, with nothing renewing. It is a good product. It is also more than double WillMaker’s Plus plan for one person, and more than three times it for a couple.

For couples the structures differ too. LegalZoom’s couple trust is One joint living trust with two pour-over wills. WillMaker lets each family member make their own documents under one plan, up to five of each type.

What does each cost over three years?

Scenario	LegalZoom	WillMaker
Full will set (will, health care directive, powers of attorney), attorney plan cancelled in time	$149	$149 (Plus)
Same, LegalZoom’s attorney plan never cancelled	$1,024	$149
Living trust, one person, no extras	$399	$149
Living trust, editing kept open three years	$399 plus an attorney plan when you need to edit	$228.98 (two optional renewals)

The number to notice is the second row. LegalZoom’s Pro Will costs the same as WillMaker Plus only if you cancel its attorney plan inside 30 days. Left running at $25/month after 30 days, it adds up to $1,024 over three years.

What does LegalZoom’s attorney access actually cover?

LegalZoom’s personal attorney plan page lists what you get: unlimited 30-minute consultations on new legal matters, attorney review of contracts and key documents up to ten pages, attorney review and unlimited revisions of your LegalZoom estate planning documents, an annual estate plan review after six months, and coverage for a spouse and dependent children. Bought on its own, it costs $199/year, or $119 every 6 months.

Two limits matter. Consultations are one per new legal matter, during business hours, and business matters are excluded. And the attorneys answer questions and review documents; they do not draft a plan for you. If what you need is a lawyer to design your estate plan, neither product is that.

Used well, though, the access is valuable. The best moment to use it is just before you sign: ask whether your guardianship choices, the way your house is held, and your beneficiary designations fit together. If you would never make that call, you are paying for something you will not use.

Which is better if you own a home?

For a homeowner, the goal is usually to keep the house out of probate. Both companies can get you there, by different routes and at very different prices.

LegalZoom’s route is the living trust, at $399, followed by moving the deed into it. LegalZoom sells that deed work too, at $249, plus state filing fees, including title research and filing with the county recorder. Done entirely through LegalZoom, a homeowner’s trust and deed together run to several hundred dollars, and you get a company handling the recording for you.

WillMaker’s Plus plan gives you two routes for $149: the living trust, or a transfer-on-death deed in states that allow one. A transfer-on-death deed names who gets the house when you die, passes it outside probate, does not change ownership today and can be revoked. You record it with your county yourself. WillMaker’s legal manual explains when a trust is the better choice.

If you are comfortable recording a deed yourself and your state allows transfer-on-death deeds, WillMaker covers a homeowner for a fraction of the price. If you want the deed and recording handled, LegalZoom’s trust plus deed service does it.

Which is better if you are replacing an old will?

Many buyers are not starting from nothing: they wrote a will years ago and their life has changed. Two things matter here: how complete the new set of documents is, and what it costs to edit again later.

WillMaker suits this well. Plus gives you the full set, a year to get every document right, and then lets you leave it alone until something changes. The download version means your documents never depend on an account staying active. LegalZoom’s Premium tier suits it differently: the year of attorney calls and the annual estate plan review are designed for exactly this moment, when you are unsure whether the old choices still make sense.

A middle route: software plus a one-off lawyer review

You do not have to choose between all lawyer and no lawyer. A common and sensible approach is to draft everything in WillMaker Plus, print the drafts, and book a single review with a local estate planning attorney before you sign. Ask for a flat fee for a document review up front. You get a complete plan at software prices and a lawyer’s eyes on the decisions that matter, without a subscription. LegalZoom’s standalone attorney plan, at $199/year, or $119 every 6 months, is the packaged version of the same idea, and it covers review of LegalZoom’s own documents specifically.

How do refunds and renewals compare?

• LegalZoom refunds: up to 7 days after your estate plan is completed; before completion, within 60 days of purchase. Attorney plan fees are refundable within 30 days unless you have had a consultation.
• WillMaker refunds: we could not find a refund policy on willmaker.com. Ask Nolo’s customer support in writing before buying if this matters to you.
• LegalZoom renewals: the Pro and Premium tiers’ attorney plans renew automatically. The contract says the reminder email about a week before billing is a courtesy, not a promise.
• WillMaker renewals: optional after the first year, $39.99/year for more revisions, optional. If you skip it, the download version keeps working; the online version keeps your documents viewable for 90 days after the revision year.

How do revisions work?

LegalZoom gives you 30 days on Basic and Pro; 1 year on Premium of free revisions. After that, the published route to more revisions is the attorney plan, which includes unlimited revisions of LegalZoom estate planning documents; we found no price for a single revision outside it.

WillMaker gives you a year of free revisions on every plan, then the optional renewal. For someone who expects to edit their plan once or twice in the next few years, WillMaker’s approach is cheaper and simpler.

What WillMaker cannot do that LegalZoom can

• Louisiana. WillMaker is not usable there; LegalZoom says its wills and trusts have been accepted in all 50 states.
• A lawyer. WillMaker has no attorney option at any price.
• Some will provisions, by design. Nolo’s manual lists what its will will not do: conditional gifts, life interests in property, two people jointly managing a child’s property, explanations inside the will, and joint wills. LegalZoom does not publish a comparable list, but its questionnaire is also built for straightforward situations; use the attorney access to ask if your plan needs something unusual.

What LegalZoom cannot do that WillMaker can

• Cover your family on one purchase. WillMaker’s plan covers up to five of each document for immediate family.
• Run without an account. WillMaker’s download version keeps working indefinitely.
• Include a transfer-on-death deed in the standard plan, a simple way in many states to pass a house without probate.

Which should you choose?

• You will do it yourself and want the most for your money: WillMaker Plus.
• You are married and want both spouses’ documents: WillMaker Plus.
• You want a living trust and a lawyer to talk it through with: LegalZoom Premium Trust.
• You live in Louisiana: LegalZoom.
• You want just a will and nothing else, as cheaply as possible: WillMaker Starter includes a health care directive that LegalZoom’s Basic Will does not.
• You are unsure and want a refund route: LegalZoom, inside its window.

Before you buy either

1. Decide whether you would actually phone a lawyer. If not, the price comparison favours WillMaker in nearly every case.
2. If you choose LegalZoom Pro or Premium, put the renewal date in your calendar today.
3. If you choose WillMaker, buy Plus, and if you work online, download every signed document.
4. Sign following your state’s instructions, in one sitting.
5. If you made a trust, retitle your house and accounts into it within the month.