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Online wills with no annual fee or subscription: what you can buy once and forget

If you want to pay once and never be billed again, buy Quicken WillMaker & Trust ($149 for the Plus plan; any later renewal is optional), LegalZoom's Basic Will or Basic Trust (the Pro and Premium tiers include an attorney plan that renews), or a Trust & Will plan with the optional membership declined at checkout. If you want to pay nothing at all, FreeWill is free. Avoid the subscription-first services, Rocket Lawyer and LawDepot, unless you will use the membership and cancel on time.

By Nora Whitfield, consumer researcher (not an attorney). Published . Based on the providers' published pricing and terms. How we check.

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Quick picks

  • Pay once, family covered, download kept: A one-time plan covering your immediate family; the download version keeps working indefinitely, and further revisions are optional. See WillMaker plans
  • A guided will or trust, nothing renewing: Basic Will and Basic Trust do not include the renewing attorney plan that comes with the higher tiers. See LegalZoom Basic
  • A guided plan, membership declined: Plans are one-time payments; the yearly membership is optional and you can choose 'No, thanks' at checkout. See Trust & Will plans

The online will market has drifted toward recurring revenue. Some services are subscriptions outright; others sell a one-time plan and attach a renewing membership or attorney plan to the higher tiers. None of this is hidden, exactly, but it is easy to miss at checkout.

This page sorts every service we track by what you pay after the first charge, and shows how to buy without signing up for anything that renews. Details come from each company’s own pages and terms, read on the date in the facts table.

Which services renew, and which do not?

Service and tier Type What renews
FreeWill Free Nothing
Quicken WillMaker & Trust One-time Nothing; more revisions are optional at $39.99/year for more revisions, optional
LegalZoom Basic Will, Basic Trust One-time Nothing
LegalZoom Pro and Premium tiers One-time plus bundled attorney plan Attorney plan, e.g. $25/month after 30 days for the Pro will
Trust & Will One-time plus optional membership Membership, $49/year, only if you add it
GoodTrust One-time plus update fee $39/year to keep updating after year one
Ethos Included with a life policy The policy premium, not the will
Rocket Lawyer Subscription Monthly and yearly plans renew automatically until cancelled
LawDepot Subscription, or a single document Subscription renews; trial converts at 7 days, then $49/month

The genuinely one-time options

Quicken WillMaker & Trust. You pay once, and its Plus plan at $149 covers a will, living trust, health care directive and financial power of attorney for you and your immediate family. Revisions are included for 1 year from purchase, and after that more revision time is optional. Choose the download version if you want the files to keep working indefinitely: Use indefinitely; legal and technical updates for 1 year. Our WillMaker review covers the limits.

LegalZoom Basic Will and Basic Trust. The Basic Will at $129 and the Basic Trust at $399 are one-time purchases. The catch is what the Basic Will leaves out: it is the will alone, without powers of attorney. The tiers that add more also add an attorney plan that renews.

Trust & Will, with the membership declined. Its will and trust plans are one-time payments. The Essentials membership is optional, and its help centre says you can choose “No, thanks” at checkout. Without it, you keep your digital download but lose online editing.

FreeWill. Nothing to pay and nothing to renew. For a will, health care directive and financial power of attorney with simple wishes, it is the obvious answer.

The tiers that renew without looking like subscriptions

LegalZoom Pro and Premium. These are sold as one-time packages, but they include an attorney plan that renews. LegalZoom’s will page says the Pro will’s plan renews at $25/month after 30 days, and the standalone attorney plan is $199/year, or $119 every 6 months. LegalZoom’s legal plan contract says renewal reminders come About a week before billing, "as a courtesy only". You can cancel Online in My Account, or by phone, and a refund of the plan is possible Within 30 days, unless you have had a consultation. If you buy Pro or Premium for the attorney calls, that is fine; just diarise the renewal.

GoodTrust. The $149 plan includes a year of updates; after that GoodTrust charges $39/year to continue making updates, and editing and downloading need an active subscription. It does not say whether the fee renews automatically.

The subscription-first services

Rocket Lawyer and LawDepot are document libraries sold by membership, each with a free trial that needs a card and converts automatically. Rocket Lawyer: One trial per customer; card required; billed the day after the trial ends unless you cancel. LawDepot: Card required; billed if the trial is not cancelled before it ends. Both are good value if you need several legal documents and use the membership. For a single will, they are the services most likely to bill you for months you did not mean to pay for. If that has already happened, see our page on being charged after a free trial.

How to check out without signing up for anything

  1. Pick the tier, and read its line on what renews before you pay.
  2. Look for pre-ticked boxes and membership offers on the checkout page, and decline them.
  3. Read the confirmation email for any mention of renewal, membership or plan.
  4. Check your account’s billing section the day after buying.
  5. If you bought a tier with a renewing plan, set a reminder a week before the renewal date.
  6. Download every document while you have full access.

Which should you choose?

  • Cheapest complete plan with nothing renewing: WillMaker Plus.
  • A guided plan from a big name with nothing renewing: LegalZoom Basic Trust, or a Trust & Will plan with the membership declined.
  • Simple wishes, no budget: FreeWill.
  • Want to own the software outright: see our page on estate planning software you buy once.
Quicken WillMaker & Trust: what it publishes
ItemPublished valueChecked
Will, one person $109 Starter plan: wills, health care directives, final arrangements.
Living trust, one person $149 Plus plan: adds the living trust, power of attorney, transfer-on-death deed and the download version.
All Access plan $219 Adds smaller documents and a one-year subscription.
Will, couple No surcharge: up to 5 of each document for immediate family No joint wills: each spouse makes a separate will under the same plan.
Free revisions 1 year from purchase
Ongoing yearly cost $39.99/year for more revisions, optional Documents stay accessible for 90 days after the revision period ends.
State limits Not usable in Louisiana Also not for people whose permanent residence is outside the United States.
Online version access Make and revise for 1 year; documents viewable 90 days after
Download version access Use indefinitely; legal and technical updates for 1 year Plus and All Access only. Data cannot move between the online and download versions.
How documents are finalized Wills witnessed; living trusts and financial powers of attorney notarized Health care directives are witnessed, notarized or both, depending on the state. Every document comes with state-specific signing instructions.
Beneficiary survival period Beneficiaries must outlive you by 45 days Built into every WillMaker will; otherwise the gift goes to the alternate.
Not published before sign-up: A refund policy (none found on willmaker.com; nolo.com blocked automated reading on Nov 15, 2026); What the "1 Yr Subscription" in the All Access plan covers beyond the plan itself.
LegalZoom: what it publishes
ItemPublished valueChecked
Will, one person $129 Basic will: will only, with 30 days of revisions.
Pro will, individual $149 Adds health care and financial documents and 30 days of attorney calls.
Premium will, individual $299 Adds a year of attorney calls and a year of revisions.
Will, couple $229 Basic will.
Pro and Premium will, couple $249 Pro; $399 Premium Same inclusions as the individual tiers.
Living trust, one person $399 Basic trust, includes a pour-over will.
Premium trust, individual $549 Adds a year of attorney calls and a year of revisions.
Living trust, couple $499 Basic trust. Premium trust for a couple is listed separately.
Premium trust, couple $649
Attorney plan renewal (Pro will) $25/month after 30 days Charged automatically to the card on file; cancel online or by phone.
Ongoing yearly cost $199/year attorney plan after year one Premium will and trust only; continues automatically, cancel online or by phone. Basic plans have no renewal on the pricing page.
Refund window 7 days after your estate plan is completed Within 60 days of purchase if the order is not yet completed. Completed means available to download or received in the mail.
Attorney plan refunds Within 30 days, unless you have had a consultation
Personal attorney plan on its own $199/year, or $119 every 6 months Includes attorney review and unlimited revisions of LegalZoom estate planning documents, and family coverage for a spouse and dependent children.
Renewal reminder About a week before billing, "as a courtesy only" The contract says a missed or unsent reminder does not excuse the charge.
How to cancel the attorney plan Online in My Account, or by phone
State limits Says its wills and trusts are accepted in all 50 states
Couple trust One joint living trust with two pour-over wills
Free revisions 30 days on Basic and Pro; 1 year on Premium
Pro will, couple $249
Premium will, couple $399
Deed transfer into the trust $249, plus state filing fees Standard package: title research, deed preparation and filing with the county recorder. Express is $289.
Not published before sign-up: What a revision costs after the free revision period ends, outside the attorney plan.
  • Their own pages disagree: The will page says the Pro will's attorney plan renews at $25/month and is fulfilled through Legal Advantage Plus; the Legal Plan Contract's fee schedule lists Legal Advantage Plus at $14.99 per month. (page A, page B; noted ).
Trust & Will: what it publishes
ItemPublished valueChecked
Will, one person $199 Will plan.
Will, couple $299 Will plan.
Living trust, one person $499 Trust plan, includes a pour-over will.
Living trust, couple $599 Trust plan.
Ongoing yearly cost $49/year Essentials membership, optional: you can choose "No, thanks" at checkout. Auto-renews if you add it.
Attorney support add-on +$299 Shown on both the will and trust plans.
Attorney-drafted plan (complex needs) From $1,499 For special-needs children, estates of $15M+, businesses with 3+ employees or complex blended families.
Pro membership $299/year Only from account settings after checkout. Adds attorney support, an estate tax report and premium support.
Editing your plan after purchase Needs the Essentials membership The free tier keeps the digital download and Plan Strength score; "edit your plan at any time" is an Essentials benefit.
Refund window 30 days from purchase Help-centre "satisfaction guarantee". Part of the price may be withheld if attorney, notary, concierge or deed services were used.
Membership refunds None for an active, paid membership
Attorney add-on refund Full refund within 14 days if no appointment was used
Upgrading a will plan to a trust $300, the difference between plans
Mobile notary with 2 witnesses (Snapdocs) $170 to $210 $170 will plan, one person; $180 couple; $190 trust, one person; $200 joint trust; $210 separate trusts for a couple. Optional partner service.
Deed transfer into the trust (Bundle) $140 per deed, plus recording fees Optional partner service; deed notarization is +$100. Trust & Will says it earns a referral commission.
State limits All 50 states; no trusts in Louisiana Not available in U.S. territories.
Payment plans Available through Klarna
Disputes Mandatory arbitration and a class-action waiver Stated at the top of the terms of service (section 22).
Your plan data and AI Not used to train external AI models Applies to its own AI features; not to third-party AI agents you connect yourself.
Who owns what you enter You keep ownership of your estate plan content
Legal status Not a law firm; does not give legal advice Stated in the footer of every help-centre page. Attorney services come from independent, state-licensed attorneys under a separate agreement.
Not published before sign-up: Whether the Essentials membership is pre-selected at checkout (the help centre only says you can choose "No, thanks"); Whether the +$299 attorney support on the pricing page is a one-time charge (the refund policy calls it an "individual" purchase; the Pro membership with attorney support is $299 a year).
  • Their own pages disagree: The terms of service say all purchases are final and refunds are discretionary, case by case. The help-centre refund policy promises a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and says refund requests inside 30 days are processed automatically. (page A, page B; noted ).

Questions people ask next

Does LegalZoom's will renew every year?

The Basic Will is a one-time purchase. The Pro and Premium tiers bundle an attorney plan that renews: the will page says the Pro will's plan renews at $25/month after 30 days, and the standalone attorney plan is $199/year, or $119 every 6 months. LegalZoom's contract says renewal reminders are sent about a week ahead and 'as a courtesy only'.

Is Trust & Will a subscription?

The will and trust plans are one-time payments. The Essentials membership, $49/year, is optional and auto-renews if you add it; its help centre says you can choose 'No, thanks' at checkout. Without it you keep your digital download but cannot edit online.

Does WillMaker charge every year?

No. You pay once. Revisions are included for 1 year from purchase, and after that you can choose to buy more revision time at $39.99/year for more revisions, optional. The download version keeps working indefinitely; the online version keeps your documents viewable for 90 days after the revision year.

What about GoodTrust?

The $149 plan includes a year of updates, then GoodTrust charges $39/year to continue making updates. It does not say whether that renews automatically, and downloads need an active subscription, so it is not a pay-once-and-forget product.

Sources

  1. WillMaker plans, pricing and FAQ
  2. LegalZoom last will page
  3. LegalZoom legal plan contract
  4. Trust & Will help centre: membership tiers
  5. Rocket Lawyer general terms of service
  6. LawDepot terms
  7. GoodTrust help: how much does GoodTrust cost?

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state and change; talk to a licensed attorney about your situation.