LegalZoom will and trust review: which tier is worth it, and the renewals to watch

LegalZoom’s estate plans look like three versions of the same product at three prices. They are not. The Basic tiers are documents. The Pro and Premium tiers are documents plus an attorney subscription that starts free and then bills you, and the subscription is the part that decides whether LegalZoom was a good deal. This review takes each tier apart, adds up the cost if you forget to cancel, and says who should buy something else.

Every number below comes from LegalZoom’s own product pages, its guarantee page and its Legal Plan Contract, read on the date shown in the table at the end. We have not bought a plan; when we do, this page will say so.

What does a LegalZoom will cost?

Will tier	One person	Couple	What it adds
Basic Will	$129	$229	Last will, pet care provisions, online storage, one printed set, 30 days of revisions
Pro Will	$149	$249	Adds health care directive, medical and financial powers of attorney, HIPAA form, and 30 days of attorney calls
Premium Will	$299	$399	Adds a year of attorney calls, a year of revisions, an annual one-hour estate plan review and discounts

The jump that matters is from Basic to Pro. The Basic Will is the will and nothing else. A health care directive and powers of attorney are the documents that work while you are alive, and most estate planning advice treats them as part of a basic plan. Pro adds them for only a little more money, which makes it look like the obvious choice. The catch is what comes with them.

What is the monthly charge on the Pro Will?

The Pro Will includes “unlimited 30 min attorney consultations for 30 days”, and the small print says it then renews at $25/month after 30 days. The footnote is explicit: after the 30-day period your card is charged and the plan renews each month until you cancel. You can cancel online or by phone.

That is a fair offer if you want a month of phone access to a lawyer while you finish your documents. It is an expensive one if you forget. Over three years, a Pro Will that is never cancelled costs $149 plus 35 monthly renewals ($875), for a total of $1,024.

One more thing to know: LegalZoom’s own pages do not agree on that renewal price. The will page says the attorney service is fulfilled through Legal Advantage Plus and renews at $25/month after 30 days; the fee schedule in the Legal Plan Contract lists Legal Advantage Plus at $14.99 per month. We report the will page’s figure, because that is the one shown next to the product you buy. Check the renewal amount on your order confirmation.

And the Premium tiers?

Premium Will and Premium Trust include a full year of attorney consultations and revisions, and then renew at $199/year attorney plan after year one. That works out more cleanly than Pro: one renewal a year, at a price close to what LegalZoom charges for its personal attorney plan on its own ($199/year, or $119 every 6 months). That standalone plan also includes attorney review and unlimited revisions of your LegalZoom estate planning documents and covers a spouse and dependent children, so the Premium renewal is not a junk fee: it is that plan.

Three-year cost if you keep the Premium renewal running:

	First year	Three years, never cancelled
Premium Will, one person	$299	$697
Premium Will, couple	$399	$797
Premium Trust, one person	$549	$947
Premium Trust, couple	$649	$1,047

The two renewals add $398 over three years. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on whether you will use the attorney calls and the annual review. If you will not, cancel before the first renewal; your documents are unaffected.

What does a LegalZoom living trust cost?

Trust tier	One person	Couple
Basic Trust	$399	$499
Premium Trust	$549	$649

Here LegalZoom is simpler and, for many buyers, better value than its wills. The Basic Trust includes the full document set: the living trust, a pour-over will, health care directive, medical and financial powers of attorney, HIPAA authorization, certificate of trust, schedule of assets and a bill of transfer. It has no attorney plan and nothing renews. Premium Trust adds the year of attorney calls, a year of revisions and the annual review.

For couples, LegalZoom’s trust is One joint living trust with two pour-over wills. LegalZoom’s own FAQ notes that a joint trust needs your co-trustor’s consent for co-owned property, which is normal for married couples but worth understanding before you sign.

Can you get a refund?

Less easily than at most competitors. The LZ Guarantee, updated October 21, 2025, says estate plans are refundable up to 7 days after your estate plan is completed. “Completed” means the documents are available to download in your account or have arrived in the mail. Before that, you have 60 days from purchase.

In practice the questionnaire produces documents quickly, so the realistic refund window is about a week from the moment you finish. If you are unsure, finish the questionnaire, read the drafts the same week, and decide.

Attorney plan fees follow a separate rule: refundable within 30 days of the initial purchase unless you have completed an attorney consultation. If you bought Pro or Premium only for the documents, cancel the plan and ask for that refund before you book a call.

How do the renewals and cancellations work?

The Legal Plan Contract is worth five minutes before you buy Pro or Premium:

• Renewal: automatic, charged to the card on file, at the price in effect for that term.
• Reminder: About a week before billing, "as a courtesy only". The contract says plainly that a missed or unsent reminder does not excuse the charge.
• Cancelling: Online in My Account, or by phone.
• Failed payments: LegalZoom may retry a declined card up to five times over 30 days.

The single best habit with LegalZoom is to put the renewal date in your calendar the day you buy.

Is a LegalZoom will legally valid?

LegalZoom Says its wills and trusts are accepted in all 50 states. That is a claim about its templates, and it is credible for a company of its size, but no website can make a will valid for you. Validity comes from signing: its own FAQ says a will must be signed and witnessed according to your state’s laws, and any later amendment (a codicil) has to be signed and witnessed the same way. The documents come with signing instructions; follow them to the letter, in one sitting. Our page on whether LegalZoom is legit covers the validity question and the three things that catch buyers out.

For a trust, signing is only half the job. LegalZoom’s trust page says it directly: a trust you never fund leaves your estate going through probate anyway. Funding means retitling your house, bank and investment accounts into the trust’s name after you sign.

How much does it cost to change your documents later?

Revisions are free for 30 days on Basic and Pro; 1 year on Premium. After that, the clearest route LegalZoom publishes is the attorney plan, which includes unlimited revisions of your LegalZoom estate planning documents. We could not find a published price for a one-off revision outside the plan. If you expect your plan to change soon (a baby, a house, a move), the Premium tier’s year of revisions is worth more than it looks.

What can you actually ask the attorney?

More than most buyers expect, with one limit that matters. LegalZoom’s personal attorney plan page lists what the plan covers: 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 with no page limit, and an annual legal review of your estate plan once you have been a member for six months. The topics it names go well beyond estate planning: landlord-tenant problems, employment rights, real estate, divorce and custody, prenuptial agreements and traffic matters.

The limit is in the footnote on the will page: one consultation per new legal matter, during normal business hours, and business matters are excluded. It is a way to get a qualified second opinion quickly, not a lawyer who takes on your case. For an estate plan, the most useful call is the one before you sign: ask whether your documents fit your family, your property and your state.

How does LegalZoom’s price compare?

Against the other two big names, on the lowest tier for one person:

	Will	Living trust
LegalZoom	$129	$399
Trust & Will	$199	$499
Quicken WillMaker & Trust	$109	$149

LegalZoom is cheaper than Trust & Will on both, and dearer than WillMaker on both. But the lowest tiers are not like for like: LegalZoom’s Basic Will has no health care directive or powers of attorney, while WillMaker’s Starter plan includes a health care directive and Trust & Will’s will plan includes all three. Compare the tier that has the documents you actually need.

Who should pick LegalZoom, and which tier?

• You want the cheapest named-brand will and nothing else: Basic Will. Nothing renews.
• You want a full set of documents, no lawyer, no renewals: there is no Basic tier with powers of attorney for wills, so compare against a trust or another provider. If you buy Pro for the documents, cancel the attorney plan inside 30 days.
• You want a lawyer to call while you draft and in the year after: Premium Will or Premium Trust. Use the calls, then decide on the renewal.
• You own a home and want to avoid probate: Basic Trust is LegalZoom’s best-value product. It includes every document and nothing renews.

Who should buy something else

• You want a trust with more hand-holding on funding and signing, and couple pricing with a separate trust for each spouse where your state allows it: Trust & Will is built around the trust and publishes prices for mobile notaries and deed transfers.
• You want to pay once and cover your whole family: Quicken WillMaker & Trust is a one-off plan that lets you make documents for yourself and immediate family.
• Your wishes are simple and money is tight: a free will from FreeWill may be all you need.

How to buy LegalZoom without paying for what you do not use

1. Choose by documents first, attorney second. Decide whether you need powers of attorney and a health care directive (most adults do), and whether you need a trust.
2. If a trust fits, start with the Basic Trust. It has every document and no renewal.
3. If you buy Pro or Premium, write down the renewal date and the amount on your order confirmation.
4. Use the attorney calls early. Book them while you draft, so the plan earns its price before the first renewal.
5. Finish and read your documents within the week. The refund window closes 7 days after your estate plan is completed.
6. Sign the way your state requires, with witnesses and a notary if the instructions say so, and fund the trust if you bought one.
7. Cancel online in My Account if you decide not to keep the plan; do it before the billing date, not after the reminder.