Best Estate Planning Software of 2025

Find and compare the best Estate Planning software in 2025

Use the comparison tool below to compare the top Estate Planning software on the market. You can filter results by user reviews, pricing, features, platform, region, support options, integrations, and more.

  • 1
    NaviPlan Reviews

    NaviPlan

    Advicent

    $2195.00/year
    See Software
    Learn More
    NaviPlan® is built upon the industry's most accurate calculation engine for financial planning, enabling firms to tailor their offerings to a wide range of clients, from those seeking simple goals-based assessments to those requiring intricate cash flow analyses. Whether addressing straightforward goals or crafting complex retirement income plans and estate strategies, NaviPlan provides financial advisors with the tools necessary to effectively assist any client who enters their office. It harnesses the power of precise calculations across countless scenarios, encompassing business planning, stock options, insurance advice, in-depth tax evaluation, estate planning, cash flow management, budgeting, Monte Carlo simulations, and retirement strategies. The tax planning software from NaviPlan, built on this top-tier calculation engine, supplies advisors with an array of comprehensive tax tools, including projections for both federal and state taxes, ensuring they can meet the diverse needs of their clientele. This versatility allows financial professionals to enhance their service offerings significantly, making NaviPlan an indispensable resource in the financial advisory landscape.
  • 2
    LEAP Reviews

    LEAP

    LEAP

    $129.00/month/user
    1 Rating
    LEAP streamlines workflows and saves time. It also reduces clerical errors in the production of forms, motions and other case-related documents. LEAP's integrated platform allows for real-time updates across all business areas. Reduce overhead and simplify IT for legal offices. Reduce administrative time and human clerical errors. You can instantly create legal documents and enjoy the benefits of a mobile office. You can work from anywhere and at any time. You can work from anywhere, with or without an Internet connection. Increase productivity by having everything you need for your business in one place. Securely work online with clients and colleagues to collaborate on documents and case files. You can automatically record the time spent on client calls, access documents, clients, and cases with one sign-on to all devices. LEAP allows you to create, store, organize, track, track, and share legal documents. This will allow you to be a paperless law office.
  • 3
    Holistiplan Reviews

    Holistiplan

    Holistiplan

    $449 per year
    Holistiplan brings automation, intelligence, and scalability to financial and tax planning for advisors, CPAs, and wealth managers. Its powerful Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine analyzes client tax returns within 45 seconds, identifying liabilities, opportunities, and projections with pinpoint precision. Users can run side-by-side scenario comparisons for strategies like Roth conversions, charitable deductions, and capital gains optimization. The platform extends beyond tax insights, offering modules for insurance planning and soon estate planning, ensuring advisors can address clients’ holistic financial needs. Built by experienced CFP® professionals, Holistiplan combines deep domain knowledge with cutting-edge technology to streamline workflows and enhance client trust. Advisors benefit from customizable tax reports, audit-ready documentation, and simplified client communication. As the industry’s #1-ranked tax planning software for multiple consecutive years, Holistiplan is recognized for its innovation and ease of use. By integrating advanced analytics with human expertise, it enables financial professionals to plan smarter, faster, and more effectively.
  • 4
    Rocket Lawyer Reviews

    Rocket Lawyer

    Rocket Lawyer

    $9.99 per document
    At Rocket Lawyer, we are committed to providing accessible and straightforward legal services for everyone. We believe that laws should serve to protect and empower individuals; however, many find themselves unable to access legal support due to prohibitively high costs and complicated processes. To address this issue, we have been making a difference since 2008, assisting over 25 million individuals and organizations in securing the legal resources they require at an affordable price. Our platform allows you to create legal documents for a variety of needs, guiding you through questions to tailor the document to your specifications. You can easily obtain swift responses from qualified lawyers for any legal inquiries or request a review of your document by an On Call attorney. By initiating your Premium Membership today, you can access reliable legal services that fit within your budget. You can also securely share documents with your attorney and safely sign and store contracts online, ensuring a smooth legal experience. Moreover, our incorporation specialists are available to discuss your options, providing you with the comprehensive support you need.
  • 5
    FreeWill Reviews
    In under 20 minutes, you can efficiently write or revise your legal will without any cost. Additionally, consider using an advance healthcare directive or living will to outline your medical preferences and designate someone to make decisions if you cannot. To ensure your financial obligations are managed, appoint an individual who can handle your financial matters on your behalf in case of incapacity. It’s essential to document and allocate assets that may not be included in your will, such as 401(k)s, IRAs, and life insurance policies. Establishing a revocable living trust can serve many of the same purposes as a last will and testament, and it can also help bypass the lengthy probate process in California. Although drafting your own will may seem intimidating, we collaborated with leading legal professionals to develop an interactive online will maker. By simply entering your information, you can produce a last will and testament tailored to your specific desires, making the process easier and more accessible. This way, you can ensure that your wishes are clearly expressed and legally binding.
  • 6
    PortfolioPilot Reviews

    PortfolioPilot

    PortfolioPilot

    $20 per month
    PortfolioPilot serves as an innovative financial advisory tool powered by artificial intelligence, specifically tailored for self-directed investors who seek thorough, impartial, and budget-friendly financial advice. This platform encompasses a variety of functionalities, including portfolio monitoring, investment recommendations, tax efficiency strategies, estate planning assistance, and modeling of various financial scenarios. Users have the ability to consolidate their overall net worth by integrating diverse assets like brokerage accounts, retirement plans, cryptocurrencies, and real estate, which ultimately presents a complete picture of their financial situation. The unique Recommendation Engine of PortfolioPilot provides customized investment suggestions by examining a vast array of data sources and economic models, with the objective of enhancing returns, minimizing risks, and ensuring a well-diversified investment portfolio. Additionally, PortfolioPilot offers ongoing tax optimization methods, such as tax-loss harvesting, aimed at boosting after-tax investment returns. The platform’s scenario modeling features enable users to explore various possible financial outcomes by simulating different investment approaches and market dynamics, further empowering them in their financial decision-making. With these comprehensive tools, investors are better equipped to navigate the complexities of the financial landscape.
  • 7
    Quicken WillMaker Reviews
    Quicken WillMaker & Trust is a thorough do-it-yourself estate planning software that empowers both individuals and families to draft legally enforceable wills, living trusts (either individually or jointly), durable powers of attorney, health care directives, transfer-on-death deeds, letters for final arrangements, and guides for caregivers or survivors. The program employs an easy-to-follow interview format that integrates legal advice, ensuring that the generated documents comply with the laws applicable in your state. Users can opt for either a desktop application or an online platform, with the flexibility to modify their plans whenever necessary. Additionally, it includes a comprehensive legal manual along with documents that have been reviewed by attorneys specific to each state, providing users with both clarity and peace of mind. Covering over 35 critical estate planning forms, such as promissory notes, authority delegations, and personal finance documents, it also aids in avoiding the probate process, making estate administration simpler and more efficient. This software is designed to cater to a wide range of estate planning needs, ensuring that users feel supported in their decision-making throughout the process.
  • 8
    Trust & Will Reviews

    Trust & Will

    Trust & Will

    Free
    Trust & Will is a digital estate-planning service that allows individuals and families to easily create legally valid documents such as wills, trusts, guardianships, and powers of attorney through a user-friendly, guided process. By responding to simple questions regarding their assets, family dynamics, and personal preferences, users can quickly generate customized legal documents within minutes. The platform also offers features for securely storing documents online, sharing them with chosen individuals and attorneys, and making updates as personal situations evolve. Emphasizing ease of access, Trust & Will empowers users to handle their end-of-life arrangements without the high costs or complexities associated with traditional legal services. Although designed for self-service, our dedicated customer support team is always ready to assist you throughout the entire process, ensuring you feel confident and informed. Ultimately, Trust & Will aims to simplify estate planning, making it more approachable and manageable for everyone.
  • 9
    LegalShield Reviews

    LegalShield

    LegalShield

    $26.95 per month
    LegalShield is a membership-based platform that provides both individuals and businesses with access to a vast network of seasoned attorneys for a variety of legal needs, including consultations, document analysis, and representation without the burden of hourly fees. Members benefit from limitless legal counsel on both personal and business matters, as well as proactive communications such as letters and phone calls made on their behalf, comprehensive document assessments (including contracts, leases, and wills), and 24/7 emergency legal support for covered scenarios. Furthermore, if additional services beyond what is included in the plan are required, members enjoy discounted pricing. This system facilitates easier access to legal resources by connecting members with law firms that possess an average of 22 years of experience, ensures secure communication with attorneys through a mobile application or portal, and addresses a broad spectrum of legal situations, ranging from estate planning and tenant issues to small business concerns such as contract negotiation and debt recovery. In this way, LegalShield not only simplifies legal access but also empowers its members to navigate complex legal landscapes with confidence.
  • 10
    eState Planner Reviews

    eState Planner

    eState Planner

    $119 per month
    eState Planner is a cloud-based software designed for legal experts and advisors, aiming to enhance the efficiency of estate planning, client intake, and document creation processes. This platform allows for the secure collection of clients' personal and financial information through engaging questionnaires, enabling users to effortlessly generate estate plans by simply dragging and dropping assets or utilizing one-click scenario options. It features real-time legal notifications that minimize frequent errors in will planning, while providing immediate insights through dynamic tax and probate calculations. Moreover, eState Planner creates customizable legal documents such as wills and powers of attorney, allowing users to incorporate peer-reviewed precedents or their own unique clauses and branding. The software also offers visual summaries and narratives to assist clients in understanding their estate-planning results, promotes collaboration by allowing multiple contributors per client file, and supports remote access with encrypted data storage for added security. Additionally, this innovative tool is designed to adapt to the evolving needs of the estate planning industry, ensuring that legal professionals can deliver optimal service to their clients.
  • 11
    Fabric by Gerber Life Reviews

    Fabric by Gerber Life

    Fabric by Gerber Life

    Free
    Fabric offers a complimentary online will creation tool that allows you to draft a digital last will and testament in as little as five minutes, walking you through important steps such as selecting a guardian, designating beneficiaries, and outlining your final wishes, all presented in a user-friendly format. After addressing a series of prompts, you will obtain a downloadable document that can be printed, signed, and witnessed to ensure its legal validity, with clear instructions provided by the platform. Tailored for young families, the service enables you to share your will with your spouse or guardian, include additional instructions, and ensure that both your assets and children are safeguarded at no cost. You maintain control over who can access the document and are free to revisit and make changes whenever necessary. While this tool effectively simplifies the estate-planning process and facilitates the completion of vital tasks efficiently, it is recommended that you consult with a legal professional if your situation involves intricate assets or specific state-related inquiries. This way, you can ensure that all aspects of your estate are comprehensively managed and legally sound.
  • 12
    FP Alpha Reviews

    FP Alpha

    FP Alpha

    $1,125 per month
    FP Alpha is an advanced planning platform powered by AI that allows financial advisors to enhance their comprehensive planning capabilities by simply uploading essential documents like tax returns, wills, trusts, and insurance policies. Once these documents are uploaded, the platform efficiently processes and extracts vital data, revealing actionable insights across various planning areas such as estate, tax, and insurance, while also quantifying the benefits of advice through visual reports and customizable deliverables. Covering over 16 different planning domains, it features modules like Estate Snapshot and Estate Planning Lab, which transform intricate legal documents into easy-to-understand summaries and flowcharts, model alternative strategies, and calculate potential savings. Additionally, the platform includes tools like Tax Snapshot and Tax Projector, which help users forecast federal and state tax outcomes over multiple years, evaluate different scenarios such as Roth conversions or charitable contributions, and seamlessly integrate these insights into current advisory practices. By streamlining the planning process, FP Alpha empowers financial advisors to deliver more informed and strategic advice to their clients.
  • 13
    GoodTrust Reviews

    GoodTrust

    GoodTrust

    $149 one-time payment
    GoodTrust provides a comprehensive estate-planning solution that allows individuals to create their own complete estate plans, which encompass wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, funeral directives, and directives for pets, all through an easy-to-follow, fill-in-the-blank format. This platform is designed to ensure that estate plans are legally recognized in all 50 states and permits each family member to establish their own plan without incurring extra charges. A standout aspect of GoodTrust is its Digital Vault feature, which securely houses estate planning documents, online account information, and legacy instructions, ensuring users maintain full authority over who can access and share these details. The user-friendly system simplifies the process: individuals simply respond to straightforward questions regarding their personal and familial information, generate their documents, have them signed by two witnesses, and then upload the signed paperwork into their Digital Vault. GoodTrust highlights that users can complete their estate planning in as little as 20 minutes, while also offering the flexibility to make adjustments or updates to their plans whenever needed, making the service not only efficient but also highly adaptable. This ensures that individuals can keep their estate plans relevant as their lives evolve over time.
  • 14
    Elayne Reviews

    Elayne

    Elayne

    $24/month
    Elayne simplifies the complexities of estate planning and estate settlement by offering a single platform for organizing documents, managing finances, and guiding families through critical decisions. Its powerful AI analyzes your accounts and uploaded documents to assess your estate readiness, highlight gaps, and recommend actions that strengthen your legacy. Families can securely connect, share information, and collaborate with a built-in network that keeps everyone aligned. For those navigating loss, Elayne generates a personalized roadmap that covers legal tasks, financial steps, and administrative responsibilities. A human concierge is available to provide compassionate support and answer questions every step of the way. Automated workflows uncover financial accounts, file claims, and streamline asset transfers to minimize delays. Security and privacy are core to the platform, with bank-level encryption, SOC II certification, HIPAA compliance, and MFA built in. Elayne helps families plan confidently and handle loss with structure, clarity, and care.
  • 15
    Complex Interests Reviews

    Complex Interests

    Complex Interests

    $2000.00/year
    The family oversees one or more active enterprises and typically maintains commercial real estate to bolster its business activities, while also holding passive stakes in related ventures, managing inter-company loans and guarantees, and acquiring valuable personal assets such as art and automobiles. Following the passing of the family's wealth creator, the legacy holdings are now under the stewardship of the second generation, whose members have utilized the family's resources to establish their own businesses and pursue personal investment interests. An extensive estate plan is in place to ensure benefits for the third generation and beyond, reflecting a commitment to long-term wealth preservation. The management of the family foundation now requires greater attention compared to the first generation. The family's wealth, which was amassed through a significant liquidity event, is strategically placed in various trusts benefiting children and grandchildren, while the family opts to invest its cash in a well-diversified portfolio that prioritizes both direct and alternative investment opportunities. As the family evolves, the focus on strategic growth and investment diversification continues to shape its financial landscape.
  • 16
    LegalZoom Reviews
    LegalZoom offers comprehensive legal solutions designed to assist individuals and businesses in various needs, including starting a new venture, filing trademark applications, creating wills, establishing living trusts, managing bankruptcy processes, and navigating a range of other legal issues relevant to small businesses and families. Recognizing the complexities involved in launching a business, we provide tailored services for forming LLCs, corporations, filing DBAs, and fulfilling essential legal obligations associated with business operations. If you're looking to safeguard your intellectual property, LegalZoom also provides services for trademark and copyright registration, along with support for patent applications. It is crucial for everyone to have both a last will and testament as well as a living will, and we ensure that you can prepare these documents quickly and cost-effectively through our platform. For clients with more intricate planning requirements, we offer a living trust service to address those specific needs. Additionally, all of our services come with the option for consultation with a qualified lawyer and a tax professional, ensuring you have expert guidance throughout the process. This commitment to accessible legal support makes LegalZoom a valuable resource for both personal and business legal matters.
  • 17
    Savvy Reviews
    Savvy merges innovative technology with extensive financial knowledge to provide you with enhanced freedom and reassurance. We are developing tech-centric wealth management solutions that offer a comprehensive perspective on your entire financial situation. Our skilled investment team performs ongoing portfolio assessments to support your advisory team in achieving your financial objectives. By simplifying everything from the onboarding experience to performance analytics, our technology ensures your advisor can dedicate more quality time to you. Savvy is composed of outstanding and experienced financial advisors located throughout the United States. Optimize every facet of your financial journey with client services designed for a more cohesive and efficient experience. In addition to retirement and estate planning, Savvy provides a diverse array of financial services such as tax strategy, alternative investments, direct indexing, and net worth monitoring, all while allowing you to access your accounts with unified advice and reporting. Our commitment is to empower you with the tools and resources necessary for informed financial decision-making.
  • 18
    Wealth Docx Reviews
    Wealth Docx Complete is a versatile cloud-based software designed for attorneys to draft estate planning documents conveniently from any location and device. This innovative platform features interactive templates suitable for creating both simple and intricate wills and trusts, alongside an extensive range of solutions for charitable planning, asset protection, and retirement needs. Among its key offerings are personalized document drafting options, guided interviews for tailored documents, and scenario-specific design templates that accommodate various fact patterns. The software also ensures users benefit from automated updates that reflect the latest legal terminology and features, alongside state-specific documents that integrate preferred provisions or necessary statutory references. Additionally, it provides essential ancillary documents such as durable power of attorney, medical directive, HIPAA authorization, anatomical gift form, and affidavit. Moreover, it includes comprehensive charitable planning solutions, which cover testamentary charitable trusts and private foundations. Other supporting documents available through the software are pour-over wills, powers of attorney, and property agreements, making it a robust tool for estate planning professionals. This makes the software not only user-friendly but also a comprehensive resource for all estate planning needs.
  • 19
    Vanilla Reviews
    Vanilla is an all-encompassing, AI-driven platform for estate planning that caters to financial advisors, estate planners, and legal professionals. It enhances the entire advisory process, starting from efficient client intake with the Estate Health Check, continuing through collaborative onboarding and document abstraction, and culminating in the creation, visualization, and modeling of dynamic estate plans. The platform offers the ability to generate legal documents on demand—such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives—either through a user-friendly questionnaire or with the assistance of an attorney. Additionally, it extracts vital information from uploaded documents and produces interactive visuals, including estate diagrams, balance sheets, tax projections, beneficiary summaries, family trees, and waterfall charts. Users benefit from advanced scenario planning features, which include ILITs, SLATs, GRATs, and modeling for Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax, allowing them to evaluate different strategies over time and optimize their estate plans effectively. This comprehensive tool not only simplifies the planning process but also empowers users to make informed decisions regarding their clients' futures.
  • 20
    Luminary Reviews
    Luminary is a specialized, cloud-centric platform tailored for wealth advisors, family offices, and estate-planning experts, enabling the conversion of traditional trust and estate documents into interactive digital records, compelling visualizations, and actionable insights, all enhanced by AI technology. By utilizing Luminary, users can seamlessly upload both legacy and modern planning documents and receive immediate, concise summaries along with extracted data, which can reduce review time by as much as 80%. The platform empowers users to create dynamic estate-flow diagrams and “waterfalls” that automatically refresh with updated asset valuations, providing clients with a clear understanding of distribution timelines and beneficiaries. In addition, it facilitates the modeling of complex strategies like GRATs, SLATs, and CLTs in a unified space, allowing for side-by-side comparison of options while enabling the rapid production of polished presentation materials that align with brand aesthetics in mere minutes instead of days. This transformative approach to estate planning not only enhances efficiency but also elevates client engagement through modern technological integration.
  • 21
    Wealth.com Reviews
    Wealth.com serves as a contemporary estate-planning platform led by advisors, catering to a diverse clientele and providing a comprehensive workflow that encompasses everything from grasping a client's estate to its ongoing optimization and management. Among its standout features is Ester AI, which efficiently extracts and visualizes information from complicated estate-planning documents, allowing advisors to produce concise, client-friendly summaries and visual aids; a Report Builder that crafts visual reports to enhance planning decisions; a Scenario Builder that empowers advisors to simulate, compare, and refine planning strategies, including tax implications and generational transfers; and tools for Document Creation that swiftly produce high-quality, attorney-level legal documents and diagrams. Furthermore, the platform boasts additional functionalities like interactive flowcharts, secure document storage, family-tree visualization, action-item monitoring, and seamless integration with over 20 financial and CRM platforms, including well-known names like Salesforce, eMoney, and Orion. In today's fast-paced financial landscape, Wealth.com stands out by offering innovative solutions that facilitate better communication between advisors and clients while streamlining the estate-planning process.
  • 22
    Lawgic Reviews
    Lawgic is a specialized document-generation platform aimed at attorneys practicing in trusts & estates and family law, guiding users through an interactive question-and-answer process that results in the automatic creation of detailed, state-specific legal documents such as wills, trusts, premarital agreements, and marital settlement agreements. This innovative software employs patented “Intelligent Legal Technology” to customize provisions according to the choices made by attorneys, produce accessible summaries of wills or trusts, and significantly cut down on drafting time, usually saving between three to ten hours for each plan. Furthermore, it accommodates various U.S. states with dedicated modules and provides integrated training and ongoing support to help lawyers navigate the system effectively. Lawgic prides itself on merging expertly crafted content with efficient automation and high-caliber results, allowing attorneys to concentrate on offering strategic counsel rather than getting bogged down by repetitive document drafting. By streamlining the document creation process, Lawgic empowers legal professionals to enhance their productivity and focus on delivering exceptional service to their clients.
  • 23
    Eternal Pro Reviews
    Eternal Pro is a modern, cloud-driven platform designed specifically for estate-planning experts, facilitating the efficient intake of both conventional and digital assets while promoting effective collaboration among attorneys, their teams, and clients, alongside real-time integration with practice-management systems. By replacing cumbersome paper forms, PDFs, and disorganized emails with a centralized hub, the software allows for customizable questionnaires that can be modified on the fly, along with real-time form editing capabilities for both clients and staff. Additionally, it provides a comprehensive asset inventory that includes everything from real estate to cryptocurrency wallets, as well as secure cold-storage technology to protect highly sensitive information. With direct integration capabilities to popular tools such as Clio, Lawmatics, MyCase, and access to over 9,000 additional applications through Zapier, it ensures seamless data flow for every client case without the risks of duplicate entries or human errors. This innovative approach not only simplifies the estate-planning process but also enhances overall productivity and accuracy for professionals in the field.
  • 24
    TrustedHeir Reviews
    Your clients often possess a multitude of online assets, ranging from financial accounts and social media profiles to emails, photographs, and various subscriptions, all of which are constantly evolving. Keeping track of these dynamic assets offline can prove to be both daunting and labor-intensive. TrustedHeir’s innovative cloud-based platform streamlines the process of digital estate planning, allowing your clients to efficiently manage and modify their digital legacy. This tool is specifically designed to automate the organization of digital assets, ensuring that login details remain current while also facilitating the execution of the digital estate after your client's demise. To get started with TrustedHeir, all you need to do is provide your client’s name, address, and email, and we’ll handle the rest. From the initial onboarding process to the creation of digital assets and the appointment of digital trustees, as well as the ongoing maintenance of your client’s account details, we ensure a comprehensive solution that meets all your needs. Our system not only simplifies the management process but also gives your clients peace of mind regarding their digital legacy.
  • Previous
  • You're on page 1
  • Next

Estate Planning Software Overview

Estate planning software gives people a practical way to sort out their wishes without getting lost in legal jargon. Instead of wrestling with piles of paperwork, users can answer straightforward questions and let the system build the documents they need, including wills, trusts, and directives. The goal is to make a complicated topic feel manageable, even for someone who has never looked at an estate plan before.

For those helping others with estate matters, the software cuts down on repetitive tasks and keeps important details organized in one place. It can update documents quickly when life situations change and makes it easier to keep track of assets, beneficiaries, and essential information. By focusing on clarity and convenience, these tools help people stay prepared and reduce stress for themselves and their families.

What Features Does Estate Planning Software Provide?

  1. Document Builders for Core Planning Needs: Most estate planning platforms give you straightforward tools to create the essentials—your will, living trust, and other foundational documents. Instead of asking you to wrestle with legal jargon, the software usually guides you with simple questions so you can make choices about property, guardianship, and final wishes without feeling overwhelmed.
  2. Health and Financial Authority Forms: These tools typically include options to put together documents that spell out who can act for you if you’re unable to make decisions yourself. This often covers both medical choices and financial decisions, and the software helps you assign people you trust and outline the boundaries of their authority.
  3. Built-In State Law Adjustments: Since estate rules vary depending on where you live, the software usually adapts your documents so they align with the laws in your state. This can include things like witness requirements, notarization steps, and the specific language that needs to appear in certain forms.
  4. Asset Tracking and Organization Tools: Another common feature is a space to pull together a complete picture of what you own. Users often enter real estate, savings, investments, digital accounts, and personal items, making it far easier to keep track of everything that might someday need to be transferred or protected.
  5. Beneficiary Planning and Distribution Options: Many platforms let you clearly map out who should receive what, along with any special instructions. You can usually add family members, charities, or other recipients, and you may also be able to set rules—such as delaying distributions until someone reaches a certain age.
  6. Collaboration With Loved Ones or Advisors: Estate planning software often includes secure ways to share documents with partners, attorneys, or other trusted individuals. People you invite may be able to review drafts, offer feedback, or confirm certain details so everyone is on the same page.
  7. Instructional Guides and Plain-Language Explanations: These tools typically come with a library of simple explanations, examples, and step-by-step help. This support is designed to cut through confusion and help you understand what each document does and why it matters.
  8. Digital Storage and Document Management: To keep everything organized, most platforms offer a secure digital vault where your paperwork lives. You can update your documents when circumstances change, keep older versions for reference, and have one central place where your family can find what they need later.
  9. Automated Reminders and Life-Event Prompts: Good estate planning software doesn’t just help you build documents—it nudges you to revisit them. When major life events happen, or enough time has passed, you may receive reminders encouraging you to update your plan so it stays accurate and meaningful.
  10. Security Tools to Protect Sensitive Information: Because you’re storing personal and financial details, these platforms typically use strong encryption, login protections, and permission settings. These safeguards help ensure that only the right people can see the information you choose to store or share.

The Importance of Estate Planning Software

Estate planning software matters because it takes a process that often feels confusing or intimidating and turns it into something people can manage with confidence. Instead of wrestling with scattered paperwork, unclear instructions, or outdated forms, users can rely on structured tools that guide them step-by-step. This reduces the chance of errors, ensures important details aren’t overlooked, and gives people a clearer picture of how their choices will play out. It’s a practical way to bring order to a topic that many find overwhelming, especially when dealing with sensitive family or financial decisions.

It’s also valuable because it encourages people to plan earlier and stay more organized over time. When documents are easy to update and information is stored securely in one place, it becomes far less tempting to put off revisions or ignore changing circumstances. Software helps bridge the gap between good intentions and real follow-through by making updates, reviews, and communication much simpler. In the long run, this leads to smoother transitions for families, fewer surprises, and a greater sense of control for anyone responsible for managing personal or family assets.

Why Use Estate Planning Software?

  1. It makes the process far less overwhelming: Trying to organize your wishes, your assets, and your family’s needs can feel like juggling too many things at once. Estate planning software breaks everything into manageable steps so you’re never stuck wondering what to do next. Instead of flipping through legal jargon or trying to decode complex instructions, you move through a guided setup that keeps the whole process approachable.
  2. You get a clear picture of what you actually need: A lot of people don’t know the difference between a will, a trust, a medical directive, or anything else that might apply to their situation. Good software helps you sort that out by asking plain-spoken questions and recommending the right documents based on your answers. This helps you avoid creating paperwork you don’t need while making sure you don’t overlook something important.
  3. It helps you stay organized now and later: Estate planning isn’t just about creating documents. It’s also about keeping track of accounts, property, insurance, passwords, and the other details your loved ones will eventually need. Software centralizes all that information so it doesn’t end up scattered across drawers, emails, or notebooks. Having it all in one secure place gives you and your family peace of mind.
  4. It’s often more affordable than hiring an attorney for basic needs: Not every estate requires a law firm. If your situation is straightforward, software can help you put together strong documents at a fraction of the cost. You’re not sacrificing quality, either—many platforms design their tools with the help of legal professionals. It’s a practical way to get things done without draining your budget.
  5. You can update your plan whenever life changes: Marriage, kids, divorce, new property, new investments—life keeps moving. Estate planning software makes it easy to revise your documents whenever something shifts. Instead of starting from scratch or scheduling another appointment, you can log in, make your updates, and keep everything current.
  6. It cuts down on guesswork for your family: A major reason people use these tools is to make things simpler for those they care about. When your wishes are clearly spelled out and stored where they can be easily accessed, your family won’t have to dig through boxes or stress about missing instructions. They’ll know exactly what you wanted, and they’ll have the tools to follow through.
  7. It helps reduce costly mistakes: When people try to draft documents on their own, they often miss key language or create contradictions without realizing it. Estate planning software is built to prevent that. It flags missing data, prompts you to add important details, and checks for inconsistencies so your documents hold up and reflect your true intentions.
  8. It gives you privacy while still offering structure: Some people don’t love the idea of discussing personal finances and family matters in an office. Software lets you work through everything privately while still giving you the structure and explanation you need. You can take your time, think through decisions, and revisit sections without feeling rushed or judged.
  9. It keeps everything stored safely and securely: Between encryption, password protection, and secure storage options, estate planning software is designed to protect sensitive information. You’re not relying on paper documents that could get misplaced, damaged, or seen by the wrong person. Everything is stored with layers of digital protection.

What Types of Users Can Benefit From Estate Planning Software?

  • People handling their own basic estate documents: Individuals who want to set up straightforward items like a simple will or medical directive can use estate planning software to walk them through each step in plain language. It helps them stay organized, avoid guesswork, and create documents they can actually understand and use with confidence.
  • Financial advisors who guide clients through life planning: Advisors can lean on estate planning tools to show clients how decisions today impact what gets passed on later. The software gives them a clear way to map out scenarios, clarify tax considerations, and tie estate choices into the bigger picture of long-term financial health.
  • Attorneys in busy firms who handle recurring estate matters: Lawyers juggling multiple clients benefit from tools that cut down drafting time and help maintain consistency across files. The software gives them quick access to templates, supports compliance, and reduces repetitive manual work that would otherwise slow down their practice.
  • Paralegals who prepare and organize the bulk of the paperwork: Paralegals often build out the first version of estate documents, handle client intake, and collect key information. Estate planning software helps them move quicker, avoid errors, and manage large amounts of client data without getting buried in administrative steps.
  • Trust officers working with long-term client relationships: Professionals inside banks and trust companies often manage assets for years or even decades. They use estate planning software to keep track of trust terms, follow distribution requirements, and maintain accurate records for beneficiaries and auditors alike.
  • Wealth management teams serving families with complex assets: Family offices and private advisors who support high-net-worth clients use estate planning platforms to coordinate multi-layered assets, business interests, and family structures. With software, they can maintain clear reporting, manage generational planning, and keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes.
  • HR teams offering legal or financial wellness benefits: Some employers provide estate planning assistance as part of a benefits package. HR professionals use estate planning software to connect employees to guided tools, make essential documents easier to complete, and promote financial well-being across the company.
  • Accountants working on estate or trust-related tax work: CPAs benefit from software that gathers financial details in a clean, structured format. By having access to organized data and automated calculations, they can prepare tax filings with less manual digging and fewer opportunities for mistakes.
  • Insurance professionals helping clients with long-term protection: Advisors who recommend life insurance or related products can use estate planning software to show how different policies support a client’s future plans. It allows them to illustrate how coverage fits into overall inheritance goals and long-term security.
  • Nonprofit professionals involved in charitable giving discussions: Planned giving teams work with donors who want to leave a legacy. Estate planning software helps them walk donors through various ways to give, explain how each approach works, and collaborate with the donor’s advisors to ensure everything aligns with the donor’s intentions.

How Much Does Estate Planning Software Cost?

Estate planning software comes with a pretty wide price range, and the cost really depends on what you’re trying to get done. If you only need straightforward tools to prepare basic documents, the price is usually on the lower end, often a single payment that sits comfortably below what you’d spend working with a professional for the same task. On the other hand, software built for ongoing client work or regular updates tends to follow a monthly or yearly subscription, and the total can add up depending on how many people use it and how often you rely on it.

When you move into systems meant for handling more detailed or specialized estate matters, the expenses can climb quickly. These platforms sometimes charge a setup fee before you even get access, and then continue with recurring costs tied to advanced features or expanded document libraries. It’s worth stepping back and looking honestly at the tools you’ll actually use. Some people only need basic guidance, while others benefit from more robust options. The best choice is usually the one that fits your workflow without paying for features you’ll never touch.

What Does Estate Planning Software Integrate With?

Estate planning platforms often work hand in hand with systems that keep daily operations running smoothly, such as time-tracking, intake, and case management tools. When these connect, client details and matter updates move automatically between systems, cutting down on repeat data entry and reducing room for error. They can also tie into secure messaging or client portal software, giving attorneys and advisors a straightforward way to share drafts, gather information, and keep clients in the loop without juggling multiple apps.

These platforms also tend to sync with financial data tools, from account aggregation services to portfolio monitoring software. That connection helps professionals pull in up-to-date asset values and other key financial details needed to build accurate estate plans. Many systems will connect with tax preparation or compliance software as well, making it easier to spot potential tax impacts and keep documentation consistent across platforms. When all of these pieces talk to each other, the estate planning workflow becomes a lot more efficient and far less scattered.

Risks To Be Aware of Regarding Estate Planning Software

  • Over-reliance on automation: It’s easy to let the software take the wheel, especially when it produces polished drafts, but estate planning is full of nuance. When users trust the automation too much, important judgment calls may get glossed over, and subtle client details might never make their way into the final documents.
  • Missing jurisdiction-specific requirements: Estate laws shift from one state to another, and even strong platforms can lag behind new statutes or regional rules. If attorneys or DIY users assume the software always has the latest legal updates built in, they risk producing documents that don’t fully meet local standards.
  • Gaps in client data accuracy: Many workflows depend on clients entering the correct information. If the intake answers are incomplete, inconsistent, or misunderstood, the software will draft based on flawed data, potentially creating plans that don’t reflect a client’s actual wishes or asset picture.
  • Security concerns around sensitive information: Estate plans contain highly personal and financial details. Any cloud platform becomes a valuable target for cyberattacks, and even a strong security software can’t completely eliminate the possibility of unauthorized access, breaches, or accidental exposure.
  • AI-generated content that looks right but isn’t: AI can produce language that feels polished and authoritative, but sometimes it makes confident assumptions that don’t fit the situation. Without careful review, attorneys or clients may accept text that sounds solid but is actually misaligned with tax rules, fiduciary requirements, or the client’s intentions.
  • Limited support for complex family dynamics: Software handles straightforward scenarios well, but real families are rarely simple. Blended households, estranged relationships, special-needs planning, or beneficiaries in conflict may stretch the software’s logic. When the tool doesn’t fully recognize those layers, critical provisions can be left out.
  • Inconsistent integration with other systems: Estate planning often intersects with financial planning tools, custodial systems, and firm CRMs. If the integrations are unreliable or outdated, users might rely on synced data that isn’t actually correct, creating mismatches between financial records and the estate documents being drafted.
  • DIY users misunderstanding legal consequences: Consumer-facing platforms try to simplify the process, but simplifying something complicated can create false confidence. Individuals may believe their plan is solid because the platform walked them through it step by step, without realizing that certain decisions carry long-term legal or tax implications they never discussed with a professional.
  • Version confusion and document management issues: When a plan is revised—especially across multiple sessions, team members, or devices—older drafts may linger. Users sometimes download, print, or store outdated versions, which can cause serious headaches later if someone signs the wrong copy or relies on language that was supposed to be replaced.
  • Dependence on vendor stability and pricing: Estate plans can last decades. Software companies, on the other hand, merge, shut down, change pricing, or sunset features. Relying heavily on a single vendor means users may face disruptions, forced migrations, or loss of access to historical data if the provider changes direction.
  • False sense of compliance readiness: Many platforms highlight built-in checks, prompts, or audit logs, but these aren’t a complete compliance solution. Firms might assume the tool is “covering” them, when in reality they still need internal policies and oversight to ensure ethical, regulatory, and professional standards are met.

Questions To Ask Related To Estate Planning Software

  1. How easily can I find my way around the software? Before anything else, you want to know whether the layout makes sense from the first click. Estate planning can feel intimidating on its own, so a confusing dashboard or cluttered menus will only slow you down. Good software should offer a smooth flow from one task to the next without forcing you to hunt for basic functions. If you can’t get comfortable with it quickly, you’ll likely avoid using it when it matters most.
  2. Does the software explain legal concepts in a way I actually understand? Estate documents come with specialized terminology, and not everyone wants to decipher dense legalese. Look closely at how the software walks you through choices. If the explanations feel like a real person wrote them and you can follow along without rereading, that’s a strong sign the tool will support you instead of frustrating you. Clear, down-to-earth guidance keeps you from second-guessing your decisions.
  3. How well does it keep up with changes to state and federal laws? Estate planning rules shift over time, and outdated language or old forms can create problems later. Ask whether the tool pushes timely updates, who is responsible for tracking new legislation, and how often the content is reviewed. Consistent maintenance shows the company understands the long-term importance of accuracy.
  4. What kinds of documents can it generate, and are those documents flexible? Some platforms only handle a straightforward will, while others support a broader range such as living trusts, healthcare directives, and powers of attorney. Beyond variety, consider whether you can tailor the language to match your situation rather than being boxed into rigid templates. The right tool should adapt to you, not the other way around.
  5. How secure is the place where my information and files are stored? Estate planning involves personal data you wouldn’t hand to just anyone. Look into the security practices behind the scenes. Strong encryption, private storage options, and transparent privacy policies help ensure your information stays in safe hands. If a company is vague about how it protects data, that’s a warning sign.
  6. Will this software work smoothly with the tools I already rely on? Whether you’re an individual or a professional, compatibility can make your workflow much easier. Some people prefer having e-signature capability built in, while others want the option to sync with calendars, financial apps, or client tools. If the software integrates well with your existing setup, you’ll spend less time jumping between tools.
  7. Is there dependable help if I get stuck or need clarification? Eventually you’ll have a question, whether small or significant. Look for responsive support options such as live chat, phone help, or well-written guides. A company that invests in solid support demonstrates that it values your experience and wants you to feel confident using its product.
  8. What does the pricing model look like over time? Cost isn’t only about the first payment. Some tools charge once and leave you on your own after that, while others run on subscriptions that include updates and future access. Think about whether you prefer a long-term relationship with ongoing improvements or a one-and-done purchase. The right choice depends on how often you expect to revisit or revise your documents.
  9. Does it offer a dependable way to share or collaborate with others? Many people need to involve spouses, family members, or clients in the estate planning process. If collaboration is important to you, check whether the software allows controlled sharing or joint reviewing. Smooth collaboration can make the process feel less overwhelming and keep everyone on the same page.