Nobody likes thinking about death, and many Canadians avoid discussing aspects like life insurance and creating Wills because of this reason.
Traditionally, you needed a lawyer to help you draft your Will. Doing it that way was often quite expensive and time-consuming for you.
However, there is a way to create a legal Will online in Canada without leaving the comfort of your home.
In my Epilogue review, I will discuss the online platform that makes it easier to create a legally binding Will at a significantly lower cost. Hopefully, it will help you determine whether the platform is suitable for your needs.
Online Legal Wills
Epilogue will assist you in creating a Will online in Canada. No lawyers needed. Good for less complex estates.
Pros
- Creates legally binding Wills in Canada
- No lawyer necessary
- Affordable service
- Created by lawyers
- A quick way of creating a legal Will
- Can name a professional trust company as the executor of your Will
Cons
- Doesn’t work well when you need to consider complex situations
What is Epilogue?
Epilogue presents itself as a simple, fast, and affordable way for Canadians to create their Will and Powers of Attorney online. In a matter of 20 minutes, you can create a legally-binding Will through Epilogue without leaving the comfort of your home.
Epilogue was created by two estate lawyers, Daniel Goldgut and Arin Klug, who wanted to make creating Wills more accessible for Canadians. The service does so with the use of minimal legal jargon.
Backed by a solid background in estate planning, Epilogue is easier and more affordable than hiring an estate lawyer without losing the effectiveness a lawyer brings.
The Toronto-based company is currently operational in nine provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, P.E.I, and Saskatchewan.
Features & Benefits of Epilogue
In this section of my Epilogue review, I will discuss all the features and benefits of Epilogue. It will help you determine how useful the service can be and whether you would benefit from using Epilogue to create your Will.
How Much Does Epilogue Cost?
One of the biggest reasons Canadians opt not to go through the hassle of creating a Will is the high costs associated with lawyer fees. A typical lawyer-prepared Will can cost you more than $800 after a lot of effort. Creating a Will through Epilogue gives you the benefit of saving time, effort, and money.
The cost of using Epilogue’s service to create a Will begins at as low as $139. I will discuss the cost of using the service in this section of my Epilogue review.
Cost for an Individual
The prices differ when you are an individual seeking to create legally-binding estate planning documents for your estate planning through Epilogue:
- Will Only: Creating only a Will through Epilogue as an individual will cost you $139. The fees will cover all your expenses for creating the legal Will. It includes the affidavit of execution and even a separate document where you can detail your funeral and burial wishes upon your death.
- Will and Powers of Attorney: The service for creating a Will and Power of Attorney documents as an individual will cost you $199. This service allows you to create your Last Will and Testament along with Powers of Attorney that let you appoint individuals whom you deem fit to manage your property and personal care if you are incapacitated.
There are two types of Powers of Attorney:
- Power of Attorney for Personal Care
- Power of Attorney for Property
Cost for a Couple
The prices for using Epilogue to create estate planning documents as a couple offers a slight discount compared to the cost for an individual:
- Wills Only: A couple can use Epilogue to each create their Last Will and Last Testaments for a total price of $269. Each partner has their own secure Epilogue account for the process and generates their own separate Will.
- Will and Powers of Attorney: If a couple wants to create customized Wills and also wants to add a Power of Attorney for Personal Care, and a Power of Attorney for Property, the total cost of using the service is $329.
Epilogue does not charge you additional fees for making updates to your Will at any time. The only cost you have to pay is the upfront fees while initially creating the Will.
How does Epilogue work?
Creating a legally-binding Will online through Epilogue is a straightforward process. It takes approximately 20 minutes from start to finish to create a Will in one sitting.
When you begin creating the Will here, Epilogue will ask you a series of questions. Your answers to the questions will help the service create a Will suitable for your needs.
You can choose to create your Will over multiple sessions and take a long time if you feel that it is necessary. The website saves your progress, and you can pick up the questions from where you left off. You can also use the website to make updates to your Will whenever you need it.
You will require some information ready with you before you begin drafting your Will. This can include basic information you should know before making a Will. For instance, you should have an idea about how you want your estate to be distributed among friends, family, or charities. If you have any minor children, you need to appoint a legal guardian in your Will.
It helps if you have a general idea about your debts and assets when you are creating the Will. Additionally, you should also have the necessary information about your loved ones, like their dates of birth and full names.
You also need to know who you want to appoint as the executor of your Will, once you have the general information about what you want to do, you need to follow literally only three steps to create the Will:
- Complete the simple questionnaire expertly prepared by Epilogue
- Generate the Will (takes just a few moments)
- Print it out and follow the signing instructions provided.
And just like that, you have a Will. To make it legally valid, you require two witnesses who also have to sign the Will. You need to have an account at Epilogue’s website to make your Will and complete your payment. You can also get the Will mailed to your address for a small fee if you cannot print the Will yourself.
Benefits of Epilogue
In this section of my Epilogue review, I will reiterate the benefits you stand to gain using the platform.
Affordable
Epilogue offers you a drastically more affordable method to create a legally-binding legal document for your Last Will and Testament. A traditional Will requires paying a lawyer substantial fees on top of processing everything through the right channels. Epilogue eliminates any additional costs.
Fast
Creating a Will through traditional processes can see you go back and forth with your lawyer or lawyers to plan everything before you begin creating the Will carefully. The availability of your lawyer can be problematic and slow down the entire process. However, Epilogue makes the process possible in just 20 minutes.
Straightforward
Epilogue makes the process of creating a legally-binding Will less complicated for you. The creators made sure that the whole step-by-step approach to creating your Will is simple for you to understand. It does not use unnecessary and confusing jargon. The platform uses layman’s terms to help you enjoy a streamlined experience of creating a Will.
Strong Background
The creators of this online estate planning solution are both highly experienced professionals in the industry. Both Daniel Goldgut and Arin Klug created the platform using their experience as estate lawyers to guide them.
Do You Need to Have a Lawyer Present?
Having a lawyer present is not compulsory when you are creating a Will. If your estate is not complicated, you can create a Will online through any Will service. However, creating a legally-binding Will requires meeting certain conditions. You will meet all the conditions when you go through the process using Epilogue and follow the instructions on the platform.
I would like to point out that it would be better to create your Will and Powers of Attorney documents through a lawyer if your estate is complex. Epilogue might not be able to address very complicated estates.
Is Epilogue Safe and Legit?
Epilogue protects any of your personal data through various security measures, including:
- Data backup using Virtual Private Cloud and dedicated firewalls
- RSA/SHA-256 encryption for protecting data during transfer
- Secure HTTPS protocol to manage your sessions
- Bcrypt technology to protect your password
The cybersecurity measures taken by Epilogue can give you the peace of mind that your information is secure.
Conclusion
A significant part of the adult population in Canada does not have a legal Will. Many people choose not to create a Will because the entire process is complicated, time-consuming, and expensive.
I think Epilogue is an ideal solution for Canadians looking to create a legal Will.
I will still recommend working with a lawyer if you require more in-depth estate planning solutions. In most cases, it streamlines the entire process and allows you to create a legally-binding document in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods.
Epilogue gets our recommendation, so check out the website for more details.
