Review by Old-and-Wise

This is the third version of Quicken Willmaker Plus I have used. I liked the 2009 version. Unfortunately, starting with the 2010 version, Nolo, the publisher of self-help legal books that produces this software, took away the living trust feature, which was a terrible move. (Also, you’re supposed to upgrade to a new version every year. If you don’t, the software won’t update itself after the end of the version year – i.e., Dec. 31, 2011 for the 2011 version – which can cause problems as states [such as New York] do update their probate and other estate-related laws.)nnThis 2011 version does not come with the living trust feature, either, but does provide you with a link upon installation to access Nolo’s online living trust product for free. This was probably in response to the uproar from their loyal customer base last year. While this does mitigate the problem somewhat – living trusts are an essential part of estate planning for most people and must be included in an estate toolkit – it means none of the information you enter in Willmaker Plus 2011, such as all the contact names and addresses and birthdays and phone numbers, carries over to the living trust part, essentially making you have to enter all that information again.

Other than that, both the Willmaker itself and the online living trust software are solid estate planning products. Of course, tools like this are best for simple situations. How simple? For example, in my case I’d like to attach a condition to my will that the people I’d like to be the personal custodians for my kids only become custodians if they relocate to my city. It turns out I cannot do this in Willmaker. What I have to do is go through the standard Q&A process of Willmaker, export the draft to Word, and then add the condition in Word myself. This part is easy; the hard – real hard – part is I now need to pore over my state’s will law to make sure my language is kosher. I already know the condition itself is fine; I just have to make sure the way I write it – since Willmaker didnt’ write it for me – will pass on probate.

For most families without complicated familial situations – such as history of multiple divorces and remarriages or estranged children – Willmaker Plus 2011 will be good for making wills, living wills (aka healthcare directives), powers of attorney, etc. You can also write promissory notes and some other simple legal documents beyond wills.

Another thing I’m disappointed with Nolo and this version – again I think Nolo is using the product as a cash cow rather than to really help its customers – is it’s little changed from the 2009 version, or even the earlier version I had used before. The same typos (yes, TYPOS!) remain, and the same interface remains. It seems every year they just change the update-expiration date of the program and the splash screen, and then sell it as a new version. (And the price seems to have been going up, even though now it doesn’t come with living trusts built-in.) I find this practice unethical.

Most likely this will be the last version of Willmaker I’ll use. I wasn’t going to use the 2011 version, but got a chance to try it for free, hence I used it and this review. There’re books out there that show you step-by-step how to make wills and living trusts, books published by Nolo and by big-name publishers. But in the end, I think next time I modify my will or living trust, I’m going to see an estate lawyer – there are a few reasonable-cost ones in my community.