Is Willed the best way for Australians to make a legal will?

• Willed.com.au empowers Australians to write a legal will from the comfort of their own homes at a fraction of the cost.
• Founded by lawyers, Willed lets you create & customise your own legally binding will using the step-by-step platform.
• With options from $159 – or $238 for couples – writing your Will online is a cost-effective alternative to visiting a lawyer.

Is anyone surprised that over 50% of Australians do not have a legally binding will? Traditionally, writing your legal will has been thought to be an expensive and time-consuming process, involving a trip or two to the lawyers to talk about something that is as boring as it is confronting.

Thankfully, in the last few years, online estate planning has become easier to do and increasingly popular as people look for alternative cost-effective options for creating a legal will that makes your loved ones secure and averts disputes about what to do with property, debts – and your 40ft yacht!

About the company

Founded in Melbourne, Australia, Willed was developed by tech and legal experts to empower Australians to write their legal will using a convenient and cost-effective solution.

Since its launch in early 2020, the Willed platform has created 1,000’s of wills for people across Australia. Willed has since developed its platform to include other estate management services such as Enduring Power of Attorney and Medical Decision Maker documents, as well as Probate and Letters of Administration services.

Willed has also partnered with a number of charities across Australia such as Beyond Blue, JDRF and The Royal Flying Doctor Service to support their Gift in Will and bequest programs.

The company has diversified to offer Probate and Letters of Administration services at a competitive rate and has launched additional fixed fee estate planning services such as Enduring Power of Attorney and Medical Decision Maker.

Is an online will legal?

Yes, if the will is signed correctly by two valid witnesses, all wills created by the Willed.com.au platform are legally binding across Australia.

Who can use Willed?

For many people it takes a major life event to happen — like having children, buying a house, or losing a loved one — before getting around to writing a legal will. If it has been lingering on your to-do list for years, Willed.com.au might be a great option for you. It's convenient and quick — perfect if you have a straightforward plan for your estate.

Willed.com.au also provides the opportunity to have your will checked by an expert to make sure you haven't missed anything — a great value-add for no additional cost. They also have phone and live chat support to help you with any questions or queries about the process.

Their service is available to Australians over the age of 18 who are mentally competent to write a legal will.

How much does it cost?

To write your legal will with Willed, prices start from $159 for singles or $238 for couples.

This includes a customised will document and the opportunity to have your legal will reviewed by one of their experts.

Willed also offers free unlimited updates to your will for the first 12 months.

Typical lawyer vs Willed.com.au

How it works

Signing up to Willed is similar to any other app and only requires an email address to get started.

1. Sign up

Create your account and answer a few simple questions about yourself such as age and relationship status. It is straightforward to complete.

2. Fill in your personal details

To write your will, you will need to outline some personal information such as marital status and any children you have. If you do have children under the age of 18 or dependants, you will also need to appoint a guardian if you and your partner pass away.

3. Appoint your executors

The executor is the person appointed by you to carry out your wishes after you pass away. An executor's duties can be demanding, so it is crucial to select people you trust carefully. Consider appointing a backup executor just in case.

If you do not feel comfortable or cannot appoint an Executor yourself, you can nominate Willed.com.au to complete these services for you (for a nominal fee).

4. Define who gets what

Leave gifts (called legacies) by specifying friends, family or a charity to receive gifts from your estate. These can be specific assets such as items or sentimental objects, property or a monetary sum.

5. Divide your residual estate

Distribute the rest of your estate (after allocation of gifts) to your nominated beneficiaries, who can include individuals, groups of people or organisations.

6. List your final wishes (optional)

If you have any final wishes, you can specify these too. These might include details relating to funeral arrangements or burial preferences such as location and method.

7. Get it checked by a Will expert.

Once you have completed your will, get it checked by a ‘Wills and Estate expert’ at Willed.

8. Download, print, and sign your will

Based on your responses, you can then download your custom will and sign the document to ensure that it is legally binding.

Unfortunately, in Australia, the law does not permit the electronic execution of Wills, so be careful to keep the original physical document in a safe place once signed.

Bequests and charitable donations

Willed.com.au makes it easy to leave a bequest or donation to charities – something that you might not have considered doing before!

Leaving a bequest is a great way to support the charities you care about – especially if you are not in the position to do so right now. There are options for set amounts or specific items or gifts, or even to leave a set percentage of your estate.

Willed has partnered with leading charities such as Beyond Blue and the Flying Doctor Service and has a database of all registered charities within their platform, making it easy and straightforward to leave a legacy.

Alternatives to Willed

There are a number of ways to write your legal will in Australia, ranging in price and convenience.

• DIY Will Kits. Available from your local Aus Post Office, which start from around $30. However, these are pen and paper kits that leave you to do it yourself. They offer limited customisation and cannot be updated, so a new kit will needs to be purchased and completed by hand again if any changes are required. Plus when you complete it there’s no easy way to have it checked by an expert, other than speaking with a traditional lawyer.
• Safewill. Another highly-rated online will writing platform designed to make this process easy and affordable for $160 with updates to your will free for the first 12 months.
• Your Wills. An online will writing platform that offers their 12 Will subscription service for $149.95, which includes three changes within the first year and storage of the document on their cloud server. Further updates can be made to the document by purchasing their ongoing annual will subscription.
• Local lawyer. Another option is to visit a lawyer who can range from $600 to $6,000 depending on the estate's complexity and the lawyer's hourly rate. If you have a more complex estate, it may be best to seek advice from an estate lawyer or firm who can advise on the best way to structure your estate plan.