LegalWills
LegalWills provides online estate-planning services for creating Wills, Powers of Attorney and Living Wills.
What LegalWills is
LegalWills provides online estate-planning services for creating Wills, Powers of Attorney and Living Wills. Its MyWill wizard asks plain-language questions and formats a Will for the user’s local jurisdiction. Members can also record funeral wishes and final messages, store personal records and secure files, and appoint up to 20 Keyholders to unlock selected information. U.S. legal-document services cover 49 states, excluding Louisiana. Documents must be printed, signed and witnessed under applicable requirements to become legal documents. LegalWills states that data in transit uses 256-bit SSL encryption, stored information is encrypted with RSA, and accounts support two-factor authentication. Support is available by email, live chat and toll-free phone; phone hours are listed as 8am to 8pm EST every day. The White Label API lets partners embed document services in their own websites or applications and set pricing and process payments themselves. MyLivingWill™ is $19.95, paid once, MyPowerOfAttorney™ is $29.95, paid once, and MyWill™ is $49.95, paid once, with one year of updates included.
Good
- MyWill formats documents for the user’s local jurisdiction.
- Up to 20 Keyholders can unlock selected information.
- Support includes email, chat and toll-free phone.
- Two-factor authentication is available for accounts.
Watch out
- No free plan is listed.
- Documents still require printing, signing and witnessing.
- U.S. services exclude Louisiana.
- The company advises attorney help for complex situations.
Who it suits
LegalWills suits people seeking online tools for Wills, Powers of Attorney or Living Wills, along with related legacy services. The company advises consulting an attorney for complex circumstances, including multi-country property, large estates, disputed family situations or special-needs dependants.
Verdict
LegalWills combines document creation with legacy services and Keyholder access. Its documents are not legal until properly printed, signed and witnessed, and complex circumstances may call for an attorney.
Plans and prices
From LegalWills's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2001.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| MyMessages | $19.95, paid once | Final messages delivered after death · one-time; legacy services require active membership |
| MyLivingWill™ | $19.95, paid once | Power of Attorney for Health Care |
| MyFuneral | $19.95, paid once | Funeral wishes · organ-donation preferences · one-time; legacy services require active membership to remain accessible |
| MyVault | $19.95, paid once | Secure upload of files and documents · one-time; legacy services require active membership |
| MyLivingWill | $19.95, paid once | Healthcare power of attorney/living-will document · one-time |
| MyLifeLocker | $29.95, paid once | Personal information and asset records for family/executor · one-time; legacy services require active membership |
| MyPowerOfAttorney | $29.95, paid once | Financial power of attorney document · one-time |
| MyPowerOfAttorney™ | $29.95, paid once | Financial power of attorney |
| MyWill | $49.95, paid once | Last Will and Testament · PDF download/printing · jurisdiction-specific document · one-time, includes one year of unlimited updates |
| MyExpatWill (U.S.) | $49.95, paid once | Expatriate will for U.S. assets/jurisdiction · one-time |
| MyWill™ | $49.95, paid once | Last Will and Testament · 1 year of updates included |
| Essentials Package | — | MyWill · MyFuneral · MyMessages · MyKeyholders · 1 year of updates included |
| Premium Package | — | Essentials Package · MyPowerOfAttorney · MyLivingWill · 1 year of updates included |
| Ultimate Package | — | Premium Package · MyLifeLocker · MyVault · 1 year of updates included |
The facts
Each one read from LegalWills's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- API availability
- A White Label API supports create_user, validate_login, login, and modify_user commands for embedding document services in a partner application.checked 15 Oct 2001
- API documentation
- The public API page includes parameter tables, command descriptions, POST endpoint details, sample HTML, and a downloadable ASP.NET/VB.NET demo.checked 15 Oct 2001
- API integration
- The White Label API lets partners embed LegalWills document services in their own website or application, set pricing and process payments themselves.checked 1 Oct 2001
- API operating model
- API partners keep their own user database, set prices, collect payments, and must store LegalWills user credentials and service status.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Backups
- The company says daily backups are performed on each database server to protect against catastrophic data loss.checked 1 Oct 2001
- Complex-estate limit
- The company advises seeking an attorney for complex situations such as multi-country property, large estates, disputed family circumstances or special-needs dependants.checked 1 Oct 2001
- Customer support
- Customer support is available by email, live chat and toll-free phone, with phone availability listed as 8am to 8pm EST every day.checked 1 Oct 2001
- Documentation depth
- The U.K. site links extensive FAQs, a blog, terms, privacy, accessibility information, support portal, and service-specific pages.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Encryption claim
- The company says vault information is encrypted so that LegalWills owners and administrators cannot read its contents.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Independent review finding
- The Canada Report review recommends LegalWills.ca for ordinary estates but advises a lawyer for businesses, farms, cross-border property, special-needs trusts, or likely disputes.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Integrations
- Partner materials describe link, embed, and fully white-label/API integration options for insurers, advisors, charities, and other organizations.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Jurisdiction coverage
- U.S. legal-document services support every U.S. state except Louisiana.checked 1 Oct 2001
- Jurisdictions
- The service links separate sites for Canada, the United States, England and Wales, South Africa, and expatriate wills covering Canada, the U.S., or the U.K.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Keyholders
- Members can designate up to 20 Keyholders who can unlock selected information when the time is right.checked 1 Oct 2001
- Keyholder safeguards
- Keyholder access uses configurable waiting and notification controls intended to prevent premature release of information.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Keyholder system
- Users can designate up to 20 Keyholders and choose which wills, directives, messages, or uploaded files each person may access.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Legacy services
- Legacy services include funeral wishes, final messages, Keyholder access, personal-record storage and secure file storage.checked 1 Oct 2001
- Licence
- The reviewed pages describe a proprietary hosted service and registered trademarks; no open-source licence or self-hosted distribution is offered.checked 15 Oct 2001
The company
- Company facts
- LinkedIn lists LegalWills as privately held, founded in 2000, headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, with 11–50 employees.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Company history
- The About Us page says LegalWills has over 26 years of experience and identifies Tim Hewson and Henry Raud as co-founders.checked 1 Oct 2001
- Company identity
- LegalWills websites are operated by PartingWishes Inc., according to the copyright and trademark notice.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Founded
- 2000checked 28 Sep 2001
- Headquarters
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canadachecked 28 Sep 2001
Money
- Funeral planning
- MyFuneral records funeral wishes and organ-donation preferences for later access by designated people.checked 15 Oct 2001
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