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Last Will and Testament
MyWill™ - Write a Legal Will
Need to know how to write a last will and testament?
Don't know how to get started in writing a last will and testament? If
you're asking yourself "How do I write a Last Will and Testament?", then you've
come to the right place.
“I used your service to write a Will
for my dear wife Christine who passed away this year. The Will was easy to
fill out and very straightforward. I never had one problem arise because of
the Will.”
--- Keith Sutton,
Surrey, B.C. Read
more testimonials
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This is NOT just a do-it-yourself legal will kit.
Read
what makes us the best.
We have removed the obstacles to writing a Will.
It is convenient, low cost, and simple. The MyWill™ service steps you
through a series of questions in a "wizard" format. All questions are
written in plain language, so you don't have to be a legal expert to create your
own Will. You simply answer the questions, complete the details, and we
automatically and instantly format a document that forms the basis of a legal
Will, customized for your local jurisdiction. If you live in the U.S. or
Canada, this document can then be printed and signed in front of witnesses to
become a legally binding document. There is also plenty of supplementary
information to help answer all of your questions.
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Make unlimited updates free of charge. Don't pay
a lawyer every time you need to update your Will. We allow your Will to be kept securely online so that you can make unlimited updates for as long as you are
a member. For example, if you have a significant change in your life
you can revoke your previous Wills and create a new, updated version. If
you change your marital status, have a new child, make a significant purchase, move homes, or get a pet ---
all of your revised wishes can be captured in a new version of your Will.
Not only will you have a legal Will, but it will always be kept up to date.
You can still have it reviewed by a lawyer. We
have worked with lawyers in Canada and the United States to bring you the
MyWill™ service and to ensure that it is of the highest quality. But if
you wish, we can still arrange for your Will to be reviewed by a lawyer, who
will check the document for consistency and completeness.
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Do not put it off any longer. The vast majority of people do not have a Will. Some
people feel that they do not need one because they believe that the distribution
of their estate is obvious. Others find it to be too time consuming to get
organized, find a lawyer, arrange appointments and attend meetings during their
already busy schedules. Many feel that the lawyers' fees surrounding the
creation and maintenance of a Will are too expensive. Whatever your reason may be, you should know that it is
extremely important that you have an up to date Will. If you die without a
Will, the courts will decide how your estate is distributed, and this may not be
in the best interests of your loved ones. It is impossible for us to know
how your estate will be distributed, but we do know that if you have a Will,
then the decisions are in your hands.
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Create your Will right now using the MyWill™ wizard
What is the Keyholder® Advantage?
How do we compare?
What makes us the best?
How secure is it?
MyWill™ - Frequently Asked Questions
What makes this web site different from other web sites
and do-it-yourself kits?
For an informative and eye-opening comparison of the MyWill™
Legal Will service to do-it-yourself legal will kits, read
about it here.
What makes us different from other web sites and
kits? Quite frankly, there is no comparison. Here are just a few
reasons why:
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We have designed
our Legal Will creation service to be of the best quality available
today. We have evaluated many existing do-it-yourself kits
and web-based services,
including several of the most popular American legal will kits and Canadian
legal will kits. We were shocked by the poor quality, limited instructions, and
low value for money that many of these do-it-yourself kits provide consumers.
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Our pay-one-price membership
model protects your investment for the rest of your life. Our
membership pricing model also allows us to provide you with the most value for
your money at prices that are unprecedented in the legal industry. We
worked with lawyers to bring you this service, and we paid for their legal
services so you don't have to. By making use of
our services conveniently online over the Internet, there is no need to
purchase a do-it-yourself kit in the first place, nor do you need to
purchase an upgraded version every year.
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Plain language help and instructions. In addition, all of our services provide you with complete
instructions and answer your questions in everyday language, free of legal
industry jargon. We have developed our services based on the requirements
of the public, not dictated by the legal profession. Our wizards, help and
information are also designed to be the best on the market and are kept
up-to-date on an ongoing basis.
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Create your Will from the comfort of your own
home. No lawyer required. Our unique approach allows you to make use of the
ultimate convenience of the Internet to write your Will at your own pace,
online, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and to make changes online at any time
free of charge.
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Free unlimited updates. Don't pay a
lawyer every time you need to update your Will. We allow your Will to be kept
securely online so that you can make free unlimited updates for as long as you
are a member.
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You can still have it reviewed by a lawyer.
We have worked with lawyers in
the United States
to bring you the MyWill™ service and to ensure that it is of the highest quality. But if you
wish, we can still arrange for your Will to be reviewed by one of our lawyers,
who will check the document for consistency and completeness.
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The Keyholder® Advantage. You can
take advantage of our unique messaging service which allows you to describe the
exact location of your Will and to provide a detailed list of assets for your
Executor. All for no extra charge. When you pass away, let us worry about
communicating this information to the people you specify. There is simply no
other company that provides such a complete and convenient service to their
customers. For more information, read about The
Keyholder® Advantage.
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We employ a strong focus on protecting the privacy
and security of your information. We use industry standard encryption
algorithms for storing all of your private information, and the design of
our services ensures that the contents of your information are made available to
the specific people designated by yourself, and only at the appropriate
time.
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Keep informed and up to date. If you wish, we can inform you by email about any changes
in legislation which may have occurred in your jurisdiction that may require
changes to your Will. Or we can send you simple email reminders, no more
than
once a year, to remind you to consider updating your Will if any significant
changes have occurred in your life.
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Other web sites and do-it-yourself kits simply do not compare.
Also, take a look at the news article warning about
the use of do-it-yourself will kits.
Do I need a Will?
Here are a few common reasons that people indicate there is no
point in writing a Will:
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"I don't really care who gets my estate.
I'll be gone anyway."
Without a Will, your property may not go to the people that you wish to
benefit. In most countries there is a law that decides how property should
be distributed if a person dies 'intestate' (without a Will). The actual
administration of your estate will also be complicated and difficult. The
courts will usually decide who will act as a personal representative or
'executor' for distributing your possessions, and the laws in your local
jurisdiction will determine who will get what. This may lead to acrimonious
legal disputes between your survivors. Note that if you have no heirs, all
of your assets, property and possessions can pass to your local government.
The effort required to draft your Will is insignificant compared to the
difficulties that dying without a Will presents to your survivors. |
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"It's obvious who will get my estate. It
will go to my spouse."
Local laws will determine who will receive your possessions, which may or
may not reflect your intentions. If you die without a Will and you are
married, your assets will not automatically go to your surviving
spouse. Local laws may determine that others, including children, may
be entitled to a share. This will be determined by the laws of "Intestate
Succession" which vary from state to state, province to province,
country to country, and will frequently lead to messy legal cases. |
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"I don't have an estate of any value."
Even if you don't believe that you have an estate of any value, your
death itself may generate a sizeable benefit. For example, your
beneficiaries may be entitled to the proceeds of a life insurance claim, a
wrongful death suit, a claim in the event of some negligence resulting in
your death. These can be significant sums of money. |
Quite clearly, there is never a situation where a Will is
unnecessary. In many cases, this can be a simple declaration of your
wishes for how your estate should be distributed, and this can be achieved by
working through the MyWill™ wizard on this web site. You should draft a
Will while you are still young and healthy, even if you don't feel that your
assets are substantial. There is absolutely no benefit in waiting until
you are older.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people do not
have a Will. Some people feel that they do not need one because of one of the
above reasons. Others find it to be too time consuming to get organized,
find a lawyer, arrange appointments and attend meetings during their already
busy schedules. Many feel that the lawyers' fees surrounding the creation and
maintenance of a Will are too expensive.
Whatever your reason may be, you should know that it
is extremely important that you have an up to date Will. If you die without a
Will, the courts will decide how your estate is distributed, and this may not be
in the best interests of your loved ones. It is impossible for us to know how
your estate will be distributed, but we do know that if you have a Will, then
the decisions are in your hands.
To die without a Will is irresponsible and places a
tremendous burden on your survivors. Do not put it off any longer.
Can I make a joint Will?
A joint Will is a single document, signed by
"co-testators" (usually spouses), intended to reflect the wishes of
both parties. This is generally considered to be an extremely bad idea, and
probably worse than having no Will at all. Often, the intent of a joint Will is
to declare that each person would leave everything to the surviving partner, and
in the event that both partners are victims of a common disaster, everything
would go to their children. The problem is that it is unclear whether a
surviving partner can revoke a joint Will and many messy legal cases have arisen
as a result of this confusion.
In short, do not make a joint Will, as there could be problems if either
party changes their mind, or wishes to amend the Will. There may also be
problems if the surviving spouse tries to make any changes to a joint Will, as
they may be bound to the original terms. Furthermore,
there is no reason to create a joint Will, as there is no disadvantage to drawing
up a separate Will for each partner.
Is the MyWill™ service suitable for me?
Although the MyWill™ question-and-answer wizard is
applicable for most cases, there are circumstances where it is advisable to seek
legal advice. In particular:
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If you are a resident of Louisiana
(U.S.A.) or of Quebec (Canada). |
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If you are involved in a matrimonial dispute, or wish to disinherit your spouse or children. |
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If you have a history of mental illness, or the question of
your mental capacity may be raised in objection to the statements in the
Will. |
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If you own personal property or real estate in multiple
countries. |
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If you are under the age of adulthood. |
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If you have complicated business investments (e.g. you are
part owner of property or businesses where ownership may be challenged). |
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If you are about to be married and are preparing a Will in
contemplation of that marriage. |
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If you have a large, complex estate (over $650,000 US) and feel that
you would benefit from some advice on estate planning and tax reduction.
Note that beginning in 2002, the first $1 million of an estate is exempt
from estate taxes in the United States. |
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If you own a farm in Canada, as there may be significant estate
planning implications. |
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If you need to provide for long term medical care for a
dependent. |
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If you have any litigation pending which involve large sums
of money or where a prison term is possible. |
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If you think that somebody may challenge your Will in court
or you have any other doubts about your situation. |
In the above situations and in other more complex situations
(the above is not an exhaustive list), it would not be advisable to rely on
the output of the MyWill™ wizard as an accurate expression of your wishes.
Instead, you should consult with an attorney in these cases.
Should I look at any other estate planning
tools?
Some people may benefit from more extensive estate planning
techniques, such as: setting up trusts, limiting probate, and tax reduction
schemes. However, these usually require detailed (and often expensive)
professional guidance. Quite often, younger people and people with
straightforward plans for their estate do not pursue the creation of extensive
estate plans. Others postpone extensive estate planning for later in life, when
their financial and family circumstances settle down. Nevertheless,
regardless of your age or your financial situation, it is imperative to have a
Will. Detailed estate planning can come later.
Why should I trust you with my personal
information?
First of all, storing any of your personal information on this
web site is purely optional. If you do choose to store your information
here, then rest assured that all of your information is
private, safe and secure. Your information is so highly encrypted that
nobody has access to this information other than yourself and your trusted
"Keyholders®" using their randomly generated personal key. Even the owners
and administrators of this web site are not able to access your private information
due to the software design and encryption methods used.
How secure is it?
This web site uses state-of-the-art digital encryption
and security technologies to protect your privacy and security. All data
passing from your computer to this web site is authenticated and encrypted
using 128-bit "SSL encryption". This is the most advanced level of
encryption available today, and it means that any information sent from your
computer is scrambled in a way which makes it completely unintelligible if
intercepted. When you are on a secure section within this web
site, a padlock will appear at the
bottom of your web browser's screen. This is your assurance that the
encryption is in place and that you are communicating across a secure link.
Furthermore, we use an industry standard high security streaming-encryption algorithm known as
"RSA" to encrypt all of your information before it is stored online. RSA is a public-key
cryptosystem developed by MIT professors Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir
and Leonard Adleman. To give you a feeling for the level of security
provided by this encryption, it has been estimated that with the most efficient
algorithms known to date, it would take a computer operating at 1 million
instructions per second over 300 quintillion years to break the encryption. That's several trillion times longer than
the age of the Earth.
Can my information get destroyed or lost?
All of the data you choose to store here is securely stored in a highly encrypted format on database
servers in the USA. To protect against catastrophic data loss, daily backups are
performed on each of our servers to locations in Canada and the U.S. Hence, if
any one of our servers experienced technical difficulties, your data would not be
at risk.
Furthermore, physical protection of our primary systems includes:
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Fire detection and fire suppression systems with dry pipe pre-action
sprinkler systems |
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N + 1 redundant power supplies, providing dual power feeds and backup
batteries, water coolant systems and generators |
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N + 1 redundant climate control, providing primary and backup chiller
units, cooling towers, and water storage |
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Local network operations center (NOC) for monitoring all data center
operations |
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24x7 monitoring and support of network connection and server availability
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24x7 uniformed guard service with interior and exterior closed-circuit
television surveillance |
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Electronic access at all data center entrances, including biometric hand
scanners |
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Electronic key management systems and individually keyed cabinets
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As you can see, we take the security and privacy of your
information very seriously.
How much does this service cost?
The MyWill™ legal will creation service steps you through a simple question and
answer wizard, formats your answers into a readable format, and produces a legal
Will that has been customized based on your answers and on your local
jurisdiction. If you wish, you can choose to store
your information securely online in order to make unlimited updates, at no extra
charge.
You can also choose to designate your own personal "Keyholders®",
who with their unique ID can unlock your Will at the appropriate time.
The complete
pricing structure is available on our Prices page.
What if I am not satisfied with my purchase?
We are proud to offer a 30-day, no questions
asked, 100% money back guarantee on all payments. If you do not feel that you have received
valuable information and value for your money, we will gladly refund 100% of
your payment.
Do you accept personal checks or money
orders?
Yes, we accept all major credit cards, as well as
personal checks or money orders. If you are making a purchase, you will be
provided with further instructions regarding your options.
Is my credit card information safe?
Absolutely. Your credit card information is
only used for purchases and it is never stored by us. Furthermore, all credit
card purchases are through a secure gateway which protects all of your
transactions by powerful Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology and
Private Communication Technology (PCT) security standards supported by Microsoft
Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and other popular browsers. SSL encrypts
your credit card number, name, address, and telephone number before they travel
over the Internet, and this information is never stored, nor is it recorded by
the secure site. This makes doing business over the Internet as secure as
purchasing by telephone or handing your credit card to a waiter in a restaurant.
Why should I choose to store my Will online?
Storing your Will online on
our secure server is a good idea for a number of reasons:
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It allows you to make
unlimited updates to your Will without having to
rewrite it each time, and for no additional charge. (Why pay a lawyer
every time you need to update your Will?)
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It allows your Will to be centrally located on the
Internet,
accessible at any time from anywhere in the world by your designated friends or
family members after you have passed away.
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Your Will will not get lost, and only the people that you authorize
to have access to your Will (your "Keyholders®") will ever be able to access
it.
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By keeping your Will online, you will
ensure that your wishes and requests are made available to the people who need them, at the right time.
There is no need for them to try to locate your Will, which may have been
documented on paper and stored in an unknown location, or perhaps destroyed by a
tragedy such as a house fire.
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For maintaining your Will, you become a member of
PartingWishes.com, which also offers several other services for you to try such
as Power of Attorney and Living Wills / Health Care Directives.
It also offers several free services such as the ability to document your
funeral wishes, write final messages, design a web page about
your life, and create online memorials.
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What is a "Keyholder®"?
A "Keyholder®" is someone that you decide to trust with the power to
access your Will when the time is right. Specifying Keyholders® is
optional. Each Keyholder® is assigned a private, secure, randomly-generated "Keyholder® ID" which they will use to login
and access your Will when it is eventually required. A Keyholder® is expected to login only after you have passed away. Security mechanisms to prevent
unauthorized premature access to your Will are also available and are fully
configurable by you. More information will be provided to you in the MyKeyholders™ service,
if you choose to store your Will online.
How will you make sure that my "Keyholders®" don't
access my Will prematurely?
Your first line of defence is to select your
Keyholders®
wisely. Most likely, you will choose members of your family or close
friends whom you trust to protect your privacy. You will not want to
choose someone who might be so curious about your wishes that they would be
tempted to access them before they are needed. However, even in this case,
there are security measures in place that will alert you to unauthorized access
if you so desire.
In particular, any one of your Keyholders® is able to request access to
your Will simply by logging in at PartingWishes.com as a Keyholder® using
the randomly
generated secure key that you communicated to them. As soon as they login
or request to access your Will, you will be sent an email
explaining which Keyholder® is attempting to access your information. As a member,
you can configure a time period for each of your services which provides you
with a window when you can deny access to this
information. If you do not deny access to the Keyholder®, then your Will
will be unlocked for that Keyholder® and they can view and print your Will.
How long will it take to create my Will?
This really depends on the complexity of your Will.
If you are leaving everything to one person, and you have no other dependents or
family members, particularly from previous marriages, your Will could be very
simple and quick to create, perhaps taking just a few minutes.
However, this service also allows you to create quite
complex Wills that require a great deal more thought and
consideration. In this case, we would also recommend that you have your
Will reviewed by one of our professional lawyers, which will be a longer overall process,
but can still be done very conveniently from our web site.
Note that you do not need to complete your Will in
one sitting. You can answer a couple of questions and then store these
wishes securely online until you have made more decisions and have a few more minutes to answer additional
questions. If you prefer, you can spend many weeks or months making
unlimited updates until you are happy with your final results, at which point
you could have your final copy reviewed and signed.
Is my Will legally binding?
According to current laws in most jurisdictions, your Will must be signed and witnessed in order for
it to be admissible in a
court of law. More information about this and the instructions for doing
so are provided as part of our service.
Why do I need to make updates to
my Will?
It is important to review your Will every few years and after
any new financial or personal events, such as a significant business
arrangement, a wedding, the birth of a child, a divorce or if you move outside
of your state, province or country.
You can choose to have a 1-year, 10-year, 25-year or
Life membership, during which time you can make as many updates or amendments to
your Will as you wish at no extra charge. More details regarding the
membership packages available can be found when making your purchase.
Do you offer legal advice?
We are not a law firm. We do not offer legal advice.
If your situation is complex, or you have any
questions regarding your Will, we strongly recommend that you talk to a practicing lawyer in your
area.
Does it matter where I live?
We have worked with lawyers in the United States to ensure that the legal document
created by the MyWill™
service is up to date with the laws in all of the states in the United States, including:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,
District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota,
Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington
D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Hence, our
services can be used to generate legal documents in any state in the United
States with the exception of Louisiana.
If you have any doubts about the legal standing of any
documents in your jurisdiction, feel free to seek legal counsel in your area to
have your documents reviewed.
Will I end up on a mailing list?
We absolutely do not share information about our
customers with any other organization.
We have no affiliate
companies, partners or interests in any other organizations. You will not
receive any other mailings based on your use of our services.
If you choose to store your information online, then you will
be given an option to
receive occasional email updates from us regarding any new services
that become available, special offers available only to our customers, or any other information that we feel might be of interest to our
customers. These will likely be sent out once every few months. You can of course choose
not to receive any emails and we will not send you any
information unless requested to do so.
In accordance with our very strict privacy policies, we will never send any postal mail or email
to any of your Keyholders® outside of your wishes, nor will we ever attempt to
contact any of your Keyholders® in any way. Furthermore, we will not resell, trade, lease or rent to third parties any personally
identifiable information about you or about any of your designated Keyholders®.
How can I get more information?
There is a considerable amount of information included in the
on-line help of the MyWill™ wizard. This will answer most of the common
questions regarding the steps included in creating your own Will.
For more information about our services and company, you can browse this web site,
visit the www.PartingWishes.com web
site, or send an email to support@partingwishes.com.
We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Don't take our word for it. Try it out for yourself.
We have worked with lawyers in
the United States
to bring you this service and to ensure that it is of the highest
quality. Best of all, you can
try it now, without
any commitment. Take a look at the sample will kits described on this page, then
try our service. Then decide.
Create your Will right now using the MyWill™ wizard
What is the Keyholder® Advantage?
How do we compare?
What makes us the best?
How secure is it?
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