Willful online wills review and Ratehub member discount

Originally posted on November 10, 2017; updated on July 24, 2026

If you don’t have a last will and testament, you’re not alone. A previously released survey by TD Bank found that approximately 50% of Canadians did not have a will. I was among the will-less until recently when I was invited to try Willful, a new Canadian tech company that provides fast, affordable online wills in less than 20 minutes. A few years ago, I was hospitalized after uncovering severe blood clots in my right leg and my lungs. This, naturally, scared the pants off me and prompted me to consider end-of-life planning. Still, I did not take action in creating a last will and testament due to the perceived hassle and cost.

November is “Make a Will Month,” according to the Ontario Bar Association, so I decided to get on board and give Willful a try.

How to pick a will on Willful

On first impression, the website is a professional yet contemporary design, a far cry from its competitors, which appear outdated and frankly, not pretty. And the pleasant Willful experience carries on from there.

First, the site asks a series of questions to help determine what plan best fits your needs. There are three options:

• Legal Essentials ($129): One last will and testament.
• Premium Coverage ($199): One last will and testament, and one power of attorney for personal care and property.
• Premium x 2 ($349): Allows couples and families to purchase 2 premium wills at a discounted price.

Plans include pet provisions and a charitable gift feature, which allows users to leave a percentage of their estate or a specific gift amount to a charity of their choice.

The reported savings enjoyed by Willful customers range from $200-$850 over using an estate lawyer, depending on the plan you choose.

The will creation process with Willful

Willful delivers on its promise to deliver a will and testament in less than 20 minutes. Mine and my husband’s took less than 15 minutes under the family plan (which is no longer available, the comparable plan would be the Premium X2 plan).

The will creation process is straightforward and you easily set up an executor and trustee, allocate your estate among beneficiaries, and outline any special gifts to be endowed or final wishes.

You can similarly easily assign a power of attorney and outline your healthcare wishes, such as pull the plug or prolong life, and whether you want to be cremated or buried, among other options.

These decisions may not come easily, but they’re necessary to make your wishes clear. And where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Finalizing your will online with Willful

This part is very important. Unfortunately, you can’t always digitally sign a last will and testament. Depending on your province there are specific regulations you need to follow. For example, British Columbia allows electronic signing and storage of wills, and Ontario has made virtual witnessing permanent (with a lawyer/paralegal as one witness). At the time of this review and living in Ontario, we had to have our will printed, signed, and stored as a hard copy, but as you can see virtual signing is now an option.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a lawyer to create or sign off on your last will and testament or power of attorney. However, there are a few procedures that must be followed to make your documents legally binding:

• Your documents have to be signed by you and two competent adult witnesses who are both present at the same time.
• The original hard copy of your signed documents need to be stored in a safe place where your executor or a family member can access them.

One of Willful’s best features is that you can log in and edit your will and/or power of attorney documentation at any time. You just have to make sure that you follow the signing process outlined above again.

Suggested product improvements (at the time of this review)

All in all, Willful is wonderful. But there’s always room for improvement. Here’s a list of features I would add to future product releases:

• Partner collaboration. Under the Family plan (Premium X2 plan), Willful could look into enhanced functionality around collaborative planning and dual logins.

These however, are minor tweaks. On the whole, I like what Willful is doing, and it’s a product/service I can get behind.

In fact, I asked Willful for a discount code for Ratehub.ca users, and they obliged. Give it a try yourself and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Use this link to access our new member discount of 20% off Willful.

What else should you know about Willful

Willful currently operates in all 10 Canadian provinces, but is not available in the territories. There are also some regional differences between Quebec and the rest of the Canadian provinces. 

Rest of Canada (ON, AB, BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, PEI, SK): full product suite — Legal Essentials will ($129), Premium Coverage adding both powers of attorney plus an asset list ($199), and Premium x2 for two adults ($349). BC also allows electronic signing/storage of the will; everywhere else still requires print-sign-witness.

Quebec: a single limited product — a "will in front of witnesses" for $129 only. No power of attorney product, no premium tier. This is because Quebec's civil law system uses different instruments (protection mandates instead of POAs, notarial wills instead of common-law wills), and Willful only sells the non-notarial witnessed will, which requires probate (the notarial-will alternative, which skips probate, isn't something Willful offers — you'd need an actual notary for that, costing up to ~$1,000 per their own FAQ). Quebec content is served off a separate site (willful.co/en-qc, with a French language version too).

The author was given a free will from Willful as part of this review. 

Also read:

• Why Should I Make a Will?
• Should You Buy Wedding Insurance?
• Life Insurance Mistakes That Millennials Make
• 10 documents you need for end of life planning