Killswitch Review: A $99 Estate Plan You Can Read Before You Pay

What Killswitch costs

Every Killswitch document is a one-time purchase. There is no subscription on the documents themselves.

• Last will and testament: $69
• Financial power of attorney: $39
• Advance healthcare directive: $39
• All three together: $99, versus $147 bought separately

If you buy the will first and decide later that you want the full set, what you already paid is credited toward the $99 bundle, so you pay only the difference.

The one recurring charge is optional. Killswitch Crypt is an encrypted vault for account numbers, insurance policies, and passwords your family would otherwise have to hunt for. It costs $49 a year and renews until you cancel. You don't need it to get valid documents.

The pricing page does not list a couples package. Each spouse needs a separate will anyway, so a married couple buying the full set should plan on two $99 bundles, or $198.

How the free preview works

Killswitch lets you answer the questions, build the document, and read it end to end before paying. The preview carries a watermark so the free copy can't be signed and used.

Paying removes the watermark and gives you a clean PDF along with your state's signing and witnessing instructions printed on the document. Killswitch says most people finish a document in about 30 minutes.

This order matters more than it sounds. With most services you commit money first and find out whether the questions fit your family second. Here you can confirm the will names the right executor, beneficiaries, and guardian for minor children before you spend $69.

Updates, refunds, and what locks

After you buy, the will stays editable. You can change beneficiaries, executors, or guardians and download an updated PDF at no extra cost. Two fields lock once you pay: your legal name and your date of birth, since those identify the document you bought.

Remember that editing the file is not the same as changing your will. A new version only takes legal effect once you sign it again with the witnesses your state requires.

Refunds are available for 14 days from purchase, for the full price. They take 5 to 10 business days to process, and your documents are deleted when the refund goes through, so download anything you want to keep first.

How the templates are built

Killswitch says its templates are drafted from published state statutes and the uniform codes behind them. No attorney reviewed them, and the company is clear that it is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

The check it offers instead is citation. Each state page names the statute it relies on. Its Texas will guide, for example, is built on Tex. Est. Code §251.051 and spells out the details people get wrong: Texas requires two or more credible witnesses age 14 or older who sign in your presence, a notary is not required for the will to be valid, and a self-proving affidavit under §251.104 is optional but makes probate easier.

That level of state detail is useful whatever service you use. Online wills usually fail at signing, not drafting. A missing witness or a beneficiary who signs as a witness causes more trouble than the wording of the document.

What Killswitch does not do

Killswitch publishes a list of what it does not sell, which makes the decision easier:

• Living trusts, including revocable living trusts
• Special-needs trusts
• Business succession planning
• Estate-tax structuring
• Probate services
• Notarization or remote online notarization
• Legal advice or attorney review of your documents

It is also web only, with no mobile app, and U.S. only. And it is new: the product launched in July 2025, so it has a shorter track record than LegalZoom (2001) or Trust & Will (2017).

One naming note: Killswitch at killswitch.rip is unrelated to other products called Killswitch, including dead-man's-switch services and killswitch.app.

Killswitch vs Trust & Will, FreeWill, LegalZoom, and Nolo

Against the services in our estate planning software roundup, Killswitch sits at the low end on price and the narrow end on scope.

• **FreeWill** costs $0 for a will, power of attorney, and healthcare directive, paid for by nonprofit partnerships. If cost is the only factor and your case is simple, FreeWill is cheaper.
• **Trust & Will** charges $199 for an individual will that includes the power of attorney and healthcare directive, offers a $299 attorney-review add-on, and sells trusts from $499. You pay about twice as much as Killswitch for that wider scope.
• **LegalZoom Basic** starts at $129, but the Basic tier does not include the power of attorney or healthcare directive.
• **Nolo Quicken WillMaker** starts at $99 as desktop software, and you buy it again each year to get the latest version.

So the case for Killswitch is narrower than "cheapest." It is the low-cost paid option on the web with all three core documents, a full preview before payment, and free edits afterward. For a side-by-side of online tools and attorneys, see online will vs lawyer.

Who Killswitch fits, and who should skip it

Killswitch fits you if most of these are true:

• You need a will, a financial power of attorney, and a healthcare directive, but not a trust.
• Your estate is simple: clear heirs, no business, no special-needs dependent.
• You want to name a guardian for minor children without paying attorney rates.
• You are comfortable following printed signing instructions and gathering your own witnesses.

Skip it and look at a trust product or an attorney if you own real estate in more than one state, have a blended family, own a business, have a special-needs dependent, or have a net worth near a state estate tax threshold. Oregon's starts at $1 million and Massachusetts' at $2 million. Our living trust cost calculator and living trust vs will comparison will show whether a trust is worth it for you, and the will cost calculator shows what an attorney-drafted will runs in your state.

Frequently asked questions