FreeWill alternatives: when the free will is not enough, and what to use instead

FreeWill is the rare free product that is actually free. Nonprofits pay for it, it does not ask for a credit card, and it produces a valid will plus a health care directive and a financial power of attorney. For a lot of people that is a complete basic estate plan, and the honest advice is to use it and keep your money.

But FreeWill is deliberately simple, and there are a handful of things people come to it for and do not find. This page lists exactly what FreeWill does and does not do, based on its own website and FAQ, and then names the cheapest good alternative for each gap. If none of the gaps applies to you, you do not need an alternative.

What does FreeWill already give you for free?

Before paying anyone, check you actually need more than this:

Document or feature	FreeWill
Last will	Free
Health care directive (living will) and financial power of attorney	Health care directive and financial power of attorney, also free
Beneficiary designation guidance for retirement accounts and life insurance	Yes, free
Living trust	Free, California residents only
Changing your will later	Free: edit in your account, print and sign again
Where it works	Wills for property in the 50 states and DC

FreeWill’s FAQ also says it will flag where an attorney may be a better fit as you answer questions, and give you a summary of your wishes to take to a lawyer if you decide to use one.

So if you are single or married, have no house or a house you are happy to pass by will, and your wishes are simple, FreeWill covers you. The rest of this page is for the cases where it does not.

Gap 1: You want a living trust and do not live in California

This is the main reason people leave FreeWill. Its trust is offered to California residents only, so if you want a revocable living trust in any other state, you need a paid service.

The three most-compared options:

	Living trust, one person	Living trust, couple	What you also get
Quicken WillMaker & Trust (Plus)	$149	Same plan	Powers of attorney, transfer-on-death deed, download version
LegalZoom (Basic Trust)	$399	$499	Full document set including certificate of trust
Trust & Will (Trust plan)	$499	$599	Funding guide, notary and deed partners

Cheapest: WillMaker Plus, especially for couples, since one plan covers your immediate family. Its trade-off is that it is pure software: no attorney, and free revisions last a year.

Most hand-holding: Trust & Will, which is built around the trust and publishes prices for a mobile notary and a deed transfer service.

One question to ask first: do you need a trust at all? If the main reason is keeping your house out of probate, a transfer-on-death deed may do that in your state, and WillMaker Plus includes one. If your estate is modest, check whether your state has a simplified probate procedure for small estates. A trust is the right tool when you own real estate, want privacy, or want someone to manage property if you become unable to.

Gap 2: You want an attorney to answer questions

FreeWill is self-help and says so. It will point out where an attorney may be a better fit, but it does not provide one.

If you want legal questions answered while you plan, the most direct online option is LegalZoom’s Premium Will ($299) or Premium Trust ($549), which include a year of unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations on new matters, attorney review of your LegalZoom documents and an annual estate plan review. After the first year the plan renews at $199/year attorney plan after year one unless you cancel.

Trust & Will offers attorney support as a +$299 add-on to a plan, or a custom plan drafted by a matched attorney for complicated situations.

There is also a cheaper middle route: make your will on FreeWill, take its summary of your wishes to a local estate planning attorney, and pay for a one-off review. That gets you a lawyer’s eyes without any subscription.

Gap 3: You want help with signing, notarizing or moving your house into a trust

FreeWill gives you clear signing instructions: Two witnesses, 18 or older, not named in the will. It does not arrange the witnesses or notary for you.

Trust & Will is the only one of the big names that sells help with these steps at published prices: a mobile notary who brings two witnesses ($170 to $210) and a deed transfer partner ($140 per deed, plus recording fees). LegalZoom sells a deed transfer service on its own ($249, plus state filing fees).

These are conveniences, not requirements. If you can find two adult witnesses who are not in your will and a notary, you do not need to pay for any of it.

Gap 4: You want a guided plan for a more complex family

Blended families, a child with special needs, a family business or property in several states are where a simple free will can go wrong. FreeWill’s own FAQ says that for a particularly large or complicated estate you may want an attorney to draft your will.

Paid online services do not fully solve this either. WillMaker’s legal manual lists the provisions its will cannot make, including gifts with conditions and leaving property to one person for life and then to another, and its FAQ warns against leaving property directly to someone with special needs. Trust & Will recommends its attorney-drafted custom plan, From $1,499, for special-needs children, very large estates, businesses and complex blended families.

For these situations the honest alternative to FreeWill is a local estate planning attorney, not another website.

What does leaving FreeWill cost over three years?

If your reason for switching is a living trust, here is the three-year cost of each option for one person, against FreeWill’s zero. “Editing kept open” means paying each company’s optional renewal so you can change your plan yourself in years two and three.

	No extras	Editing kept open for three years
FreeWill (California trust only)	Free, California residents only	Free
Quicken WillMaker & Trust Plus	$149	$228.98
LegalZoom Basic Trust	$399	Basic Trust plus an attorney plan when you need to edit
Trust & Will Trust plan	$499	$646

For a married couple the gap widens in WillMaker’s favour, since its one plan covers both of you, while LegalZoom and Trust & Will charge $499 and $599 for a couple’s trust.

Can you mix FreeWill with a paid service?

Yes, and it can be the cheapest sensible plan. A will, a trust, a power of attorney and a health care directive are separate documents. Three combinations work well:

• FreeWill for everything, then a lawyer’s review. Use FreeWill’s summary of your wishes as the starting point for a one-off appointment.
• A paid trust, plus FreeWill’s free health care directive and power of attorney. Only useful if the trust package you buy does not include them; WillMaker Plus, LegalZoom’s Basic Trust and Trust & Will’s trust plan all do, so in practice you would use theirs.
• FreeWill now, a trust later. Make your will today so you are not without one, and buy a trust when you buy a house or your situation changes.

The one rule: you can only have one current will. If you buy a trust package, it includes a pour-over will that replaces your FreeWill will.

What to do with your FreeWill will when you switch

FreeWill’s own FAQ gives the right instruction for updating a will: create and sign the new one, then destroy the earlier version. The same applies when the new will comes from a different company:

1. Sign the new will (and trust, if you have one) properly, with witnesses and a notary as instructed.
2. Only then destroy the old signed FreeWill will, so there is never a gap.
3. Tell your executor where the new originals are.
4. Keep your beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance consistent with the new plan; they pass outside the will either way.

What FreeWill does that the paid services do not

It is worth being clear about what you give up by switching, too:

• No cost and no renewals. WillMaker’s revisions need a paid renewal after a year; Trust & Will’s online editing needs its membership; LegalZoom’s attorney plans renew.
• Free changes for life. FreeWill says you can come back, edit and generate a new will at any time.
• A built-in prompt to consider charity, which some people value and others ignore. FreeWill says one in six users include a charity in their will; it is not required.

How to decide in five minutes

1. Do you need a living trust? If yes and you live in California, use FreeWill’s free trust. If yes and you live elsewhere, choose WillMaker Plus for price or Trust & Will for support.
2. Do you want a lawyer to talk to? If yes, LegalZoom Premium, or FreeWill plus a one-off local attorney review.
3. Is your family or estate complicated? If yes, a local attorney.
4. None of the above? Stay with FreeWill. Sign it properly with two adult witnesses who are not named in it, store the original safely, and tell your executor where it is.