How we check

The rules every number follows

1. One source of truth. Each price or term is stored once, and every page that mentions it reads that single record. A number cannot say one thing in a review and another in a comparison.
2. Read from the provider. A value is recorded only from the provider's own pricing page, terms, help centre or checkout. Other review sites are not a source.
3. Sourced and dated. Every value carries the URL it was read from and the date it was last re-read. Both are shown next to it.
4. Re-checked on a schedule. Anything not re-read within 45 days is marked "re-check due" on the page until it has been checked again.
5. Gaps are stated. When a provider does not publish something before sign-up, the page says "not published" and does not estimate it.
6. Contradictions are shown. When two of a provider's own pages disagree, both are linked and the disagreement is described as it is.

Where things stand today

124 facts across 8 providers. Most recent check: Nov 15, 2026. Oldest check still in use: Nov 15, 2026. The full file is public: facts.json.

How we work out the real cost in this category

Online will and trust services advertise a "starting at" price. That is the first charge for one person on the lowest tier. What you actually pay depends on four more things, and we add them up the same way for every service:

1. Who the plan covers. We record the one-person and the couple price separately. Some services charge a couple price; some let a spouse make separate documents under one plan; some have no couple option.
2. What renews. Yearly memberships, attorney plans that switch to monthly or yearly billing after an included period, and paid revision periods. We count the first three years, because that is roughly when people first update a will after a life change.
3. Add-ons you are likely to need. Attorney review, a trust instead of a will, extra documents such as powers of attorney and health care directives, and printed copies.
4. Costs outside the service. Notary and witness costs for signing, and county fees to record a deed when you move a house into a trust. The service does not charge these, so we name them but do not put a number on them unless the state publishes one.

Where a service does not say whether something renews, or what it costs after the first period, the page says "not published" instead of assuming the cheapest answer.

What we read for each provider

• Pricing page and plan comparison, with the individual and couple switches both ways: every tier's price and what it includes.
• Footnotes and the terms of service or subscription terms: what renews, at what price, after how long, and how cancellation works.
• Product pages for wills and for trusts: which documents come with each tier (pour-over will, powers of attorney, health care directive) and how long revisions are free.
• Help centre and FAQ: states the service does not cover, how signing works, and whether it helps with funding a trust.
• Checkout, up to the payment screen and no further: what is pre-selected, whether a membership is added by default, and whether you can see your documents before you pay. A page says when this walk-through was done; if it has not been done yet, the page says it is based on published pages only.

State rules

A will or trust is only as good as its signing. For each state we cover, we read the signing rules (how many witnesses, whether a notary is needed, whether a self-proving affidavit is used) from the state's own statute or court and state bar pages, and check them against which services operate there. Some services do not serve every state: for example, a service may exclude Louisiana, whose estate law is different from the other states'.

How recommendations are made

A recommendation is made for a situation, not in general: a couple with young children, a homeowner who wants to avoid probate, someone who wants a lawyer on call. For each situation we compare the whole bill, what is included and the state limits, and say who should skip the pick.

The order services are listed in is set by how established they are and does not change with commission. A service that pays nothing can be the answer, and the page will say so.

Sometimes the honest answer is that you do not need to buy anything: if your wishes are simple, a free will may be enough; if most of what you own already passes by beneficiary designation or joint ownership, a will may matter less than keeping those designations current; and if your situation is complicated, the money is better spent on a local estate planning attorney than on any online package.

What we cannot verify from outside

• Whether a particular document will hold up for your family. That depends on your state, how it was signed and the facts of your life, and only a court or a lawyer can speak to it.
• The quality of the attorneys a service connects you with, and how long they take to respond.
• Prices shown only after you sign in, personalised quotes, and discount codes.
• How a service handles a cancellation or refund in practice, unless we have done it ourselves, in which case the page says so with the date.

Corrections

If a number here no longer matches the provider's page, tell us. The fix and its date go on the corrections log.