Best online will for married couples: what two people actually pay, and joint or separate

Married couples doing their wills together tend to assume they need “a joint will” and a couple’s price. The first is a myth, and the second varies far more than it should: from free, to one plan that covers the whole family, to a couple price close to double the single one. This page sorts out what a couple actually needs, what each service charges for it, and the decisions only couples have to make.

All prices and terms come from each company’s own pages, read on the date shown in the facts tables. We have not bought these plans yet.

What does each service charge a couple?

Service	Wills (plus directives and powers of attorney) for two	Living trust for a couple
Quicken WillMaker & Trust	$149 (Plus covers both, and includes the trust)	Same plan
Trust & Will	$299	$599
LegalZoom	$249 (Pro Will, couple)	$499 (Basic Trust)
FreeWill	Free for each will	California only
GoodTrust	$149; family members at no extra fee	Included

LegalZoom’s couple Basic Will, at $229, is cheaper than its Pro Will but contains only the two wills, with no health care directives or powers of attorney. Its Pro Will includes a 30-day attorney plan that renews at $25/month after 30 days unless cancelled.

The standout is WillMaker. One purchase lets you make up to five of each document type for yourself and your immediate family, so a couple pays the single plan price once. No other paid service here comes close for couples.

Do you need a joint will?

No, and you will not find one at the mainstream services. A joint will is one document signed by both spouses, usually meant to stop the survivor changing the plan after the first death. Nolo’s WillMaker manual explains why it refuses to make them: in practice joint wills tie up property for years and lead to court fights over whether the surviving spouse can change any part of it.

What couples actually get, and want, is two separate wills that mirror each other: each leaves everything to the other spouse, then to the same children or other beneficiaries. WillMaker even has a “Duplicate for Spouse” button at the end of the will interview to create the matching will. Trust & Will creates both spouses’ documents in one account once you buy the couple plan. Each spouse can still change their own will later, which is usually what you want.

What each spouse needs, document by document

A couple’s estate plan is two personal plans that fit together. Each spouse needs their own:

Document	Why each spouse needs one	Usually names
Will	Says who inherits that spouse’s property and who settles their estate	The other spouse first, then children or others
Health care directive	That spouse’s own treatment wishes and decision-maker	The other spouse, with a backup
Financial power of attorney	Lets someone manage that spouse’s finances if they are incapacitated	The other spouse, with a backup
HIPAA authorization (some services)	Lets named people get that spouse’s medical information	The other spouse and the backup

Couple packages include a set for each spouse. The backups matter more than couples expect: if you are both in the same accident, the backup agent and the guardians named in the wills are who act.

How each service handles setting up the second spouse

• WillMaker: each spouse makes their own documents under the same plan. At the end of the will interview, the “Duplicate for Spouse” button creates a matching will, which you then adjust where needed.
• Trust & Will: buy the couple plan, or add spousal documents later from Settings, then answer each question from your spouse’s point of view; its help centre walks through the steps.
• LegalZoom: choose the couple version of the tier at checkout; the package contains a set of documents for each spouse, or one joint trust for a trust.
• FreeWill: each spouse makes their own free will and directives.

Joint trust or two separate trusts?

If you are buying a living trust, this is the decision that actually differs between services.

• LegalZoom: a couple gets One joint living trust with two pour-over wills. Its FAQ notes that a joint trust needs your co-trustor’s consent for co-owned property.
• Trust & Will: the structure follows your state. In community property states it builds a joint trust; in separate property states, two separate trusts that mirror each other and name each other as successor trustees. Married people in community property states cannot choose separate trusts there.
• WillMaker: documents are made per person under one plan; its legal manual explains the trust options.

Trust & Will’s FAQ describes how its joint trust works: both spouses are co-trustees who can change the trust while both are alive; after the first death, the assets pass to the surviving spouse’s share, which the survivor can change freely; after both deaths, the beneficiaries named in the original trust inherit.

A joint trust is simpler to run day to day. Separate trusts keep each spouse’s property distinct, which matters more when spouses have different children or very different assets. If your state’s default is not what you want, talk to an attorney before buying.

What does each cost a couple over three years?

	Documents only	With the ongoing option for three years
WillMaker Plus (both spouses, trust included)	$149	$228.98 (two revision renewals)
Trust & Will, couple will plan	$299	$446 (Essentials membership each year, assuming one per account)
Trust & Will, couple trust plan	$599	$746 (same assumption)
LegalZoom, couple Premium Will	$399	$797 (attorney plan renewed twice)
LegalZoom, couple Premium Trust	$649	$1,047 (attorney plan renewed twice)

Trust & Will’s help centre prices its membership per year without saying whether a couple pays it once or twice; the figures above assume once.

Which service fits which couple?

Married, no children, renting, simple wishes: two free wills from FreeWill, plus its free health care directives and powers of attorney, may be all you need.

Married with young children: the will is where you name guardians. WillMaker Plus covers both of you for the least money. Its manual lets you name a couple as the children’s personal guardians and one person, with a backup, to manage money you leave them. Make sure both wills name the same guardians.

Married homeowners: compare a trust from WillMaker Plus (lowest price), LegalZoom’s Basic Trust (complete, nothing renews) and Trust & Will (most help funding the trust). WillMaker Plus also includes a transfer-on-death deed, which in some states keeps a house out of probate without a trust.

Married in a separate property state, wanting separate trusts: Trust & Will does this by default.

Married, wanting legal advice as you plan: LegalZoom Premium, which includes a year of attorney consultations and an annual estate plan review.

A second marriage with children from before: read the next section first.

The couples who should see a lawyer

The standard couple plan, everything to each other and then to the children, has a known weak spot in blended families. When the first spouse dies, everything goes to the survivor, who can then rewrite their own will. Nothing stops the first spouse’s children from being left out, deliberately or not.

Fixing that usually means trusts that give the surviving spouse what they need while guaranteeing the rest reaches the first spouse’s children. Online questionnaires are not designed for this. WillMaker’s manual says its will cannot leave property to one person for life and then to another, and Trust & Will recommends its attorney-drafted custom plan, From $1,499, for complex blended families. Here, an estate planning attorney is the right purchase.

What happens to a couple’s plan if you divorce?

Divorce usually changes how a will or trust treats a former spouse, but the rules vary by state, and relying on them is risky. Make new documents.

Practically, the services handle it differently. Trust & Will’s terms say the secondary user on a couple account can contact support to set up their own account, and that fees may apply for the new account and new documents. Its help centre has a separate guide to updating documents after marriage or divorce. At WillMaker, each person’s documents are already separate, so each spouse simply makes new ones; check that your plan’s year of revisions, or a renewal, is active.

Getting the couple-specific details right

Whichever service you choose, these are the decisions couples most often skip:

1. Decide whether everything really goes to each other. Trust & Will lets you pick different beneficiaries for each spouse; the default is not compulsory.
2. Name the same guardians in both wills, with the same backups.
3. Name each other as agents in your powers of attorney and health care directives, with a backup agent who is not your spouse.
4. Check how your house is titled. Property held jointly with right of survivorship passes to the survivor outside the will.
5. Line up beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance with the plan.
6. Sign both sets of documents in one session, with the same witnesses and notary, following your state’s instructions.