Here’s a statistic that should worry you: only 24% of American adults have a will, according to Caring.com’s 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study. That’s down from 33% just three years ago.

Meanwhile, online will services have never been cheaper or easier. Trust & Will, LegalZoom, FreeWill, Quicken WillMaker — you can build a legal document in under an hour for around $150 to $200.

So what’s the catch?

I’ve been a CPA since 1981, and I’ve seen plenty of DIY wills land families in court for years. I’ve also watched perfectly good online wills sail through probate without a hiccup.

The truth? Online wills are great for some people. For others, they’re a financial time bomb.

Here’s how to tell which one you are.

Don’t use an online will if you’re one of these 5 people
1. You’re in a blended family

Stepkids, ex-spouses, half-siblings — these wreck more wills than anything else.

A boilerplate online form has no idea your second husband has two children from a prior marriage whom you adore but don’t want inheriting your first husband’s investment account. Get one detail wrong and that money may end up exactly where you didn’t want it.

An attorney who handles blended-family estates for a living knows the traps. Software doesn’t.

2. You own a business

A business interest isn’t just an asset — it’s a living thing that has to keep running while your estate gets sorted out.

Who runs the company during probate? How do partners buy out your share? What happens to key-person insurance? Online forms can’t answer questions like these. An estate attorney can.

3. You have a child or grandchild with special needs

This one’s huge. If you leave money outright to a disabled loved one, you may disqualify them from Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, and other benefits worth tens of thousands of dollars a year.

The fix is a special needs trust — a specific legal structure that holds the money on their behalf without counting as theirs for benefits purposes. No online template I’ve seen handles this correctly.

4. Your estate is large — or close to it

The 2026 federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per person, or $30 million per couple, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Above that, you’re looking at up to a 40% tax bite.

But here’s the trap. Twelve states plus D.C. impose their own estate tax, and five levy inheritance taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. In Oregon and Massachusetts, the tax kicks in at just $1 million and $2 million, respectively — including your home, retirement accounts, and life insurance.

Live in a state like that and smart planning can save your heirs a fortune. An online form won’t even know to ask.

5. Your state has strict execution rules, or you own property in multiple states

Most states still require two in-person witnesses watching you sign. New York and New Jersey, for instance, don’t recognize electronic signatures or remote witnessing for wills at all.

And if you own real estate in more than one state, your heirs may face probate in each one. That’s the kind of nightmare a local attorney can plan around — often with a simple revocable trust.

Quick aside — most internet financial advice comes from people who weren’t alive during the last recession. I’ve been writing about money for more than 35 years. Want rock-solid advice? Sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter. Takes 10 seconds. No fluff. No spam.

Online wills are fine if you’re one of these 5 people
1. You’re young, single, and your assets are simple

You’re 30, unmarried, no kids. Your assets are a 401(k), a car, and a checking account. Congratulations — you’re the textbook candidate.

Your 401(k) passes by beneficiary form anyway, not by will. The rest is straightforward. A $199 will from Trust & Will is honestly all you need.

2. You’re married with shared kids and uncomplicated assets

Both spouses, one set of kids, a house, a couple of retirement accounts, some savings. Most online platforms handle this scenario in a guided interview.

The big decisions — naming a guardian for the kids, naming an executor, dividing the estate — are exactly what these tools were built for.

3. Your wishes are simple and uncontested

“Everything goes to my spouse, and if she’s gone, split it equally among our three children.” That’s a clean instruction an online form handles fine.

Trouble starts when wishes get conditional: “Joe gets the lake house, but only if he doesn’t sell it for 10 years, and if he does, it reverts to…” Online forms can’t draft those well.

4. You currently have no will at all

This is the most important point in the article. If you have no will, your state writes one for you — and the consequences of dying intestate are uglier than most people realize.

Roughly three-quarters of Americans have no will, per Caring.com. A flawed online will beats no will every single time. Get something in place this week. Upgrade later if your life gets more complicated.

5. You’re updating something simple in an existing plan

Need to swap an executor? Add a new grandchild as a beneficiary? Update an address?

Some online platforms let you make minor changes for a small annual fee. That’s perfectly reasonable — assuming the original plan was sound to start with.

Which online service should you use?

Choose your tool. There are plenty of online legal services you can use. We’re currently partnering with Trust & Will. They charge a flat fee of $199 for an individual will-based estate plan, and $299 for a married couple.

Before you begin, however, decide what you want. Who inherits what? Who raises your kids? Who handles your medical decisions if you can’t? Write it down in plain English before you do anything else.

The bottom line

I’m not anti-online-will. I’m anti-wrong-tool-for-the-job.

If your life is simple, an online will is one of the smartest $200 investments you’ll ever make.

If your life is complicated — blended family, business, special needs child, big estate — a few thousand dollars for the right estate attorney is cheap insurance against the legal mess your loved ones will inherit otherwise.

Whatever you do, do something. Procrastination has killed more estate plans than bad lawyering ever has.