U.S. Legal Wills Review

U.S. Legal Wills is an online platform that helps individuals create legally valid estate planning documents, including wills, powers of attorney, and living wills. U.S. Legal Wills tailors its service to U.S. residents and provides templates designed to meet state-specific legal requirements. Users can complete their documents online and choose to print or store them digitally.

While it’s possible to create a will on your own, estate planning is a complex endeavor. Talk to a financial advisor today.

People with large estates or sophisticated needs should not try to make their own will, even with a service. They may benefit from working with an attorney who understands estate and property law. People with mid-sized estates and straightforward wishes can make another plan. In this case, your needs will likely be clear enough that you can use ready-made documents and a legal database.

What Is U.S. Legal Wills?

U.S. Legal Wills is a website that helps you draft your own estate planning documents, such as a will, a power of attorney and a living will. It fills in ready-made templates based on your wishes and needs

It works very similarly to a tax preparation website. You start by selecting the document you want to create. The site then asks questions about your wishes, assets, heirs, and family members to complete the document. In the end, it generates your estate documents, which you can either print out or keep in electronic form.

For people who enroll in a membership, U.S. Legal Wills also offers long-term services. For an additional fee, it stores your estate documents online, reducing the risk of a lost or unverified will. It can also host funeral instructions and other after-death wishes, which can be automatically distributed after your death.

Best Way to Use U.S. Legal Wills

The best way to think of this service is like a TurboTax for estate planning. The software behind U.S. Legal Wills is very similar to what estate lawyers use in their own offices when they draft a will for their clients. It relies on a series of standard forms and documents and fills in specific information on a case-by-case basis. This is how most lawyers prepare a will because it helps them to speed up drafting and avoid mistakes of omission.

However, despite its name, U.S. Legal Wills is not a law firm. It cannot offer legal advice or solutions specific to your situation. Instead, it prepares documents that generally align with your profile. For example, if you say “I would like to leave my house to my two children,” the website will fill in a template for splitting a house between two next-of-kin heirs. The language will meet the needs of a standard client, but it will be up to you to review the document and make sure that the template meets your specific needs.

This can work because, again like how an accountant is not required to do your taxes, the law does not require an attorney to prepare a will. Individuals can prepare their own wills, and U.S. Legal Wills gives you a tool that helps you do that.

In most, if not all, jurisdictions you will still need to find witnesses to countersign your will. In some jurisdictions, you may also need to have the document notarized. U.S. Legal Wills does not provide these services. After preparing your will, you’ll need to arrange for witnesses and, if required, a notary.

What Does It Cost?

U.S. Legal Wills offers a range of estate planning packages starting with the basic Last Will and Testament, priced at $49.95. This option includes one year of unlimited updates and allows you to create a legally valid will that complies with state laws. You can download, print, and sign the document according to your state’s witnessing requirements.

The Premium Last Will and Testament package costs $69.95 and includes several added features. In addition to the standard will, you can document your funeral wishes, write messages to loved ones, and assign Keyholders®—trusted individuals who can access your documents when needed.

For those seeking more comprehensive coverage, the Complete Estate Plan is available for $99.95. It bundles the Last Will with both a financial power of attorney and an advance directive—such as a living will or healthcare power of attorney—offering broader control over both financial and medical decisions.

The most extensive option is the Premium Estate Plan, priced at $129.95. This package includes all the features of the Complete Estate Plan, plus access to MyLifeLocker™ and MyVault™, tools that help organize personal details and securely store important documents for your loved ones.

Each plan comes with one year of unlimited updates. Users can extend this access for $11.95 annually, or choose a multi-year extension—five years for $29.95, 10 years for $39.95, 25 years for $79.95, or a lifetime update option for $129.95.

Should You Use U.S. Legal Wills?

As a threshold matter, Louisiana does not accept estate planning documents from this service. Lawyers often note that Louisiana stands out when it comes to legal rules, and estate planning is no exception. While residents may get some educational value from U.S. Legal Wills, their documents will not be accepted as valid estate plans.

Beyond that, it boils down to your estate planning needs. On its own merits, U.S. Legal Wills offers a clean, well-designed product. If you want to use a template for creating standard estate documents, this is a good one to choose. The bigger question is whether you should use a template in the first place.

For customers using the site’s basic service, the answer is often yes. If you have a straightforward estate, there’s nothing wrong with using pre-written forms to make sure you address the technicalities. U.S. Legal Wills offers a good product for this.

Beyond the site’s basic service, however, the issue gets more complicated. If you need to establish a trust, manage complex assets, prepare for your own incapacitation or otherwise address complicated needs, in all likelihood you need to speak with a lawyer. This isn’t a problem with U.S. Legal Wills. No template or automated service is a good option for someone who has multiple or complicated needs.

What U.S. Legal Wills offers is an inexpensive, quick service that allows you to create estate documents for a fraction of the price that you would spend on a lawyer. But it cannot offer advice that applies to your specific legal situation.

Bottom Line

U.S. Legal Wills provides a streamlined way to draft estate documents without the time or cost of working with a lawyer. Its approach works well for those with straightforward planning goals, especially when the documents serve more as formal confirmations of clear intentions. For those with more intricate plans or legal concerns, the platform may serve as a starting point rather than a full solution. The right approach depends largely on how complex your estate is and how comfortable you are managing those details on your own.

Tips for Estate Planning

When you’re planning your estate it’s important to make sure you think through all of your assets and exactly how you want them to be protected. Getting the advice and help of a professional, like a financial advisor, can help you avoid mistakes. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
If you’re wanting to make an estate plan on your own then you’ll need to make sure you cross every “t” and dot every “i,” and a good start to that is checking out our estate planning checklist.