Two online solutions, LegalWills.ca and Willful Wills, allow Canadian adults to create their own legal will — in fewer than 20 minutes, in some cases — for a fraction of the cost of visiting a lawyer.
My wife and I met with a lawyer to create our will and personal directives when we were in our early 30s, shortly after our first child was born. We were outliers — as an estimated 56 per cent of Canadian adults do not have a will, including 88 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 27 and 34.
Why don’t more people have a legal will? Thinking about our own mortality is uncomfortable, and dealing with a lawyer can be intimidating not to mention expensive. Our will and personal directives cost us $1,000, and that was eight years ago.
Finally, many people believe that wills and estate plans are complicated and for the rich. But the truth is, even if your family and financial situation is fairly straightforward, the No. 1 reason to get a will is so you can decide exactly how your estate will be distributed. If you die without a will, there is no guarantee your wishes will be carried out as desired.
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Two online solutions — Willful Wills (willful.co) and LegalWills.ca — allow Canadian adults to create their own legal wills for a fraction of the cost of visiting a lawyer. In fact, with either platform you can create a legal will online in fewer than 20 minutes by following a series of intuitive steps designed to guide you through the myriad options available.
Established in 2000, LegalWills.ca has been offering a will service for 15 years. The service is available throughout Canada with the exception of Quebec.
A last will and testament costs $39.95. A complete estate plan, including a power of attorney and living will, is $89.85. A mirror will is 40 per cent off for the second, so a couple wanting to prepare two wills would pay $64 and a complete estate plan for a couple is $144.
You can also list your belongings, digital assets and important contacts for $29.95 through a supporting feature called my life locker.
To use it, name at least one close friend or family member as keyholder, who will be notified of their responsibilities and given a secure ID to access your documents at the appropriate time. When you become mentally incapacitated or die, your keyholder can request to view your documents on the server. An automatic notification is sent to you explaining that a keyholder is attempting to view your documents. The documents are released to the keyholder if you do not respond to the notification within a specific period of time.
Willful Wills
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Launched in 2017, Willful Wills is available in Ontario and Alberta, with British Columbia on deck.
Its essentials package costs $99, which includes a last will and testament and allows you to take care of your estate and allocate property, make funeral wishes known, and plan for your children and their inheritance.
The premium plan costs $150 and includes everything in the essentials package plus a power of attorney for personal care and property. It also allows you to plan for an emergency.
The couple’s plan costs $250 and includes everything in the premium plan plus documents for you and your spouse. All plans come with unlimited changes.
Choose whether to be cremated, buried or to have your body donated to science, along with the type of funeral, wake or memorial service you wish to have. A newly added feature is a pet provision to ensure someone looks after your fur baby and allocates funds to cover their ongoing needs.
Caveat
One caveat is that Canadian law does not allow wills to be signed online and so you need to print the documents and sign them in the presence of two witnesses for them to be legally binding. Then, simply store your documents in a safe place.
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Make sure to follow the signing and storing process again should you make any changes or updates to your will over time.
The verdict
LegalWills.ca is the most affordable and comprehensive online will service, with customers in the tens of thousands, according to president Tim Hewson. Its longevity is an advantage as many of its wills have gone through the probate process without any reported issues.
Willful’s motto is “Online wills made easy,” and it was clearly designed with the user experience in mind. The slick platform will no doubt appeal to millennials who are ready to take their first crack at a basic will and estate plan in a user-friendly, unintimidating platform.
Robb Engen Robb Engen lives in Lethbridge, Alberta and is half of the Boomer & Echo personal finance blogging team with his mother, a former financial adviser. He is a freelance contributing columnist for The Star.
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