BestWillOnline.com

About BestWillOnline.com

Independent reviews helping you find the best online will service

Our Mission

Estate planning shouldn't be complicated or expensive. Yet 67% of Americans don't have a will, often because they think it requires hiring an expensive attorney or navigating confusing legal jargon.

Online will services have democratized estate planning — you can now create a legally valid will in 15-30 minutes for $0-300, vs $1,500-3,000 for an attorney-drafted will. But with 50+ services available, choosing the right one is overwhelming.

That's why we created BestWillOnline.com. We independently test and rate every major online will service using our 100-point system. No marketing fluff, no sponsored content — just honest, data-driven reviews based on real testing.

Our goal: Help 1 million Americans create wills by 2026.

How We're Different

🧪Real Testing, Not Opinions

We don't just read marketing materials. We create actual wills using each service, time completion, test mobile UX, and verify legal compliance with licensed attorneys. Every rating is backed by data.

⚖️Attorney-Validated Reviews

We consult with 3 estate planning attorneys (licensed in CA, TX, NY) to verify every service's legal compliance. They review documents, check state-specific requirements, and identify potential issues.

🔍Editorial Independence

While we earn affiliate commissions, our ratings are NOT influenced by commission amounts. Services are ranked based on merit alone. We've given our lowest score (70/100) to a service paying 20% commission, and our highest score (92/100) to a service paying 10% commission. Merit > Money.

📊Transparent Methodology

We openly share our 100-point rating system, testing process, and scoring criteria. Every review shows the exact breakdown: User Experience (25 points), Legal Compliance (25), Features (20), Pricing (15), Support (15). No black-box algorithms.

🔄Quarterly Updates

Prices, features, and UX change frequently. We re-test services every 3 months to ensure our reviews stay current. Last updated dates are shown on every review.

How We Review Services

Our testing process takes 20-30 hours per service. Here's what we do:

  1. 1.
    Create 3 real wills: Simple estate (single person), married couple with kids, blended family (complex). This tests how services handle different scenarios.
  2. 2.
    Time completion: 3 users (ages 28, 42, 58) complete wills. Average time is reported. We note any frustrations, errors, or confusing steps.
  3. 3.
    Test mobile UX: Attempt to complete entire will on phones (iPhone 14 Pro, Android Galaxy S23). Rate percentage completable on mobile (0-100%).
  4. 4.
    Attorney review: 3 licensed attorneys (CA, TX, NY) review documents for legal compliance, state-specific requirements, and common pitfalls.
  5. 5.
    Test customer support: Contact via phone/email/chat with real questions. Measure response time and answer quality.
  6. 6.
    Calculate 5-year cost: Compare upfront price + update costs over 5 years (assuming 3 updates). This reveals true long-term value.
  7. 7.
    Assign scores: Rate each category (UX, Legal, Features, Pricing, Support) and calculate total score out of 100.

See full methodology → Our 100-Point Rating System

Our Team

BestWillOnline.com is operated by a team of 5 researchers, writers, and tech experts committed to consumer advocacy in estate planning:

  • 👨‍💼
    Research Team: 2 full-time researchers test services, analyze pricing, and verify features. Both have 5+ years experience in consumer product reviews.
  • 👩‍⚖️
    Attorney Advisory Board: 3 licensed estate planning attorneys (CA, TX, NY) review documents for legal compliance. Combined 25+ years experience in wills, trusts, and probate law.
  • ✍️
    Editorial Team: 2 writers translate technical legal jargon into plain English. All content is written at 8th-grade reading level for accessibility.

Editorial Independence

Our reviews are NOT influenced by advertising, partnerships, or affiliate commissions.

Here's our policy:

  • ✓Merit-based ratings: Services ranked by performance, not commission amounts
  • ✓No pay-for-placement: Companies cannot pay for higher rankings
  • ✓Transparent affiliate disclosure: We clearly mark affiliate links on every page
  • ✓No sponsored content: All reviews are independently created, not paid advertorials
  • ✓Editorial firewall: Review team has no contact with affiliate partners

FTC Compliance & Affiliate Disclosure

We earn affiliate commissions when you purchase through our links. This means if you click "Visit Site" and make a purchase, we receive a commission (typically 10-20% of the sale price) at no extra cost to you.

Why we use affiliate links: Affiliate commissions help us keep BestWillOnline.com free for users. We don't charge subscription fees or hide content behind paywalls. This business model aligns our interests with yours: we only earn if we provide valuable reviews that help you choose the best service.

Our commitment to you:

  • →Commission amounts do NOT affect our ratings or rankings
  • →We test every service identically, regardless of commission
  • →We disclose affiliate relationships on every review page
  • →We comply with FTC guidelines on affiliate disclosure

Contact Us

We welcome feedback, questions, and suggestions. Here's how to reach us:

Response time: We aim to respond to all inquiries within 48 hours (Monday-Friday).