WillMaker vs LegalZoom for Landlords: Which Estate Planning Service Wins in 2026?
- Is a WillMaker will as legally valid as a LegalZoom will? Yes, when executed according to your state's formalities (signature, witnesses, sometimes notarization). Both services generate state-specific documents. What differs isn't legal validity — it's the support model:…
- Does a landlord need a trust, or is a will enough? A will alone sends your properties through probate. If you hold even one rental property, a living trust (or a TOD deed in states that allow them) keeps it out of probate and into your heirs' hands faster and cheaper.
- Which is cheaper over five years? WillMaker Plus: $149 upfront, free revisions year one, $40 per update period after — roughly $149–$229 total. LegalZoom: higher bundle pricing upfront, plus roughly $199/year if you keep the attorney plan. WillMaker…
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If you own rental property and still don't have a will, a trust, or a power of attorney, you're the most common estate-planning time bomb in America. Landlords die, get sick, and become incapacitated like everyone else — but unlike everyone else, they leave behind leases that keep running, tenants who keep paying (or not), and properties that need management decisions the day they can't make them. Without a plan, your properties head to probate, your portfolio freezes while heirs sort out authority, and your family pays an attorney $1,500–$3,000 for documents you could have generated in an afternoon.
Two services dominate the do-it-yourself estate planning market: Nolo's WillMaker — downloadable DIY software at $109–$219, in its 39th year — and LegalZoom — the biggest brand in online legal services, with an attorney-network model built on consultations and legal plans. Both produce legally valid documents for straightforward estates. The right choice for a landlord comes down to your estate's complexity and how much attorney access you want.
This comparison is written for rental property owners: what landlords actually need from an estate plan, how each service delivers it, what each costs, and which one to pick for simple vs. complex estates.
What landlords actually need from an estate plan
Before comparing services, get the requirements straight. A landlord's estate plan has four moving parts, and each one solves a different landlord-specific problem:
1. A will — or a living trust — for the rental properties. A will names your executor and distributes your assets. But even with a valid will, your properties still go through probate — months of court, public records, and legal fees. A revocable living trust avoids probate entirely: you transfer your properties into the trust, and your named successor trustee manages or distributes them with no court involved. Our full estate planning for landlords guide covers how trusts, wills, LLCs, and beneficiary designations fit together.
2. A durable financial power of attorney for property management. If you're incapacitated, nobody can legally collect rent, pay mortgages and taxes, or authorize emergency repairs without a durable POA naming an agent. Your portfolio freezes while the bills keep coming.
3. Transfer-on-death (TOD) deeds where available. About half the states recognize TOD deeds, which pass a single property to a named beneficiary without probate — a simpler alternative to a trust for landlords with one or two properties in a TOD state.
4. Health care documents. A health care directive and health care power of attorney cover your medical wishes and decision-maker. Not landlord-specific, but part of any complete plan.
The bottom line: a landlord needs a will (or trust), a durable financial POA, and health care documents at minimum. The trust becomes essential once you hold multiple properties. Keep these requirements in mind as we compare — they're the scoring rubric.
How WillMaker works: the DIY software model
Nolo WillMaker 2026 is downloadable estate planning software (desktop for PC/Mac, or an online app) that walks you through an interview — you answer plain-English questions, and it generates state-specific legal documents for all 50 states.
- Starter — $109: will, health care directive, letter to survivors, final arrangements. No living trust, no power of attorney.
- Plus — $149: adds the revocable living trust and the durable financial power of attorney. This is the real product for landlords.
- All Access — $219: adds extra documents (limited POA, promissory note, temporary guardianship) and a one-year digital vault subscription for storing and sharing documents.
The standout feature is local storage: with the desktop version, your will, trust, and asset details never leave your computer. Every online-only competitor stores your most sensitive documents on their servers. For people uneasy about uploading a full inventory of their assets to a web company, this is a genuine privacy advantage.
Other landlord-relevant details: free revisions for the first year ($40 per additional update period after that), family members create their own documents at no extra charge, and WillMaker includes transfer-on-death deed support for the states that allow them. No attorney review is included — the software generates documents, it doesn't check your judgment.
For the full breakdown, see our WillMaker review.
How LegalZoom works: the attorney-network model
LegalZoom takes the opposite approach. Rather than pure DIY software, it's a legal services platform with an attorney network: document builders, legal plans, and consultations with independent licensed attorneys. For estate planning, the model is built around attorney involvement rather than software you run yourself:
- Document bundles: LegalZoom offers estate planning documents (wills, trusts, POAs) through its guided platform. Bundle pricing sits above WillMaker's one-time purchase range — check current pricing, since LegalZoom's plans change frequently.
- Personal Attorney Plan — about $199/year: unlimited 30-minute consultations on personal matters, including wills and estate questions, plus document reviews. This is where LegalZoom genuinely differs from WillMaker: if you want to ask an attorney "does my plan actually cover my rental properties?" you can.
- The subscription-and-upsell structure: LegalZoom's checkout is known for aggressive upsells — attorney plan trials, add-ons, and renewals that stack up if you don't decline them.
LegalZoom's estate planning documents are generated through its online platform — your documents and asset information live on LegalZoom's servers, the opposite of WillMaker's local-storage option. The platform is guided and user-friendly, but you don't get a desktop download.
One important clarification: LegalZoom is a legal services company, not a law firm. The attorney plans connect you with independent licensed attorneys for consultations — they advise and review, but plan attorneys don't represent you in court. Our full LegalZoom review for landlords covers its lease templates, LLC formation, and legal plans in depth.
Head-to-head: WillMaker vs LegalZoom for landlord estate planning
Cost. WillMaker Plus at $149 is the cheapest credible way to get a will, a living trust, a durable POA, and health care documents for a landlord. LegalZoom's estate planning bundles run higher, and the attorney plan adds roughly $199/year. Over a few years the gap compounds: WillMaker's post-first-year updates cost $40 per update period, while LegalZoom keeps you in subscription territory. If cost is the primary driver and your estate is simple, WillMaker wins decisively.
The living trust. Both services offer revocable living trusts, and both are only as good as the funding step — you have to actually retitle your properties into the trust, and neither service does that for you. WillMaker includes the trust at $149 (Plus); with LegalZoom, the trust comes through its higher-priced bundles.
Powers of attorney. WillMaker includes the durable financial POA at the $149 Plus tier — the document that keeps rent collected and mortgages paid during incapacity. LegalZoom's POAs come through its document bundles. Functionally equivalent; WillMaker's is cheaper.
Attorney access. This is LegalZoom's home turf and WillMaker's weak spot. WillMaker offers zero attorney review — the software can't tell you your plan has a hole or your trust is unfunded. LegalZoom's Personal Attorney Plan (about $199/year) gives you a real attorney to ask those questions.
Privacy and data storage. WillMaker's desktop version keeps everything on your own computer. LegalZoom stores your documents and asset details on its servers. If you'd rather your will, trust, and property inventory not live in a company's cloud, WillMaker wins clearly.
Ease of use. Both are interview-style: answer questions, get documents. WillMaker's interview is plain-English and purpose-built for estate documents across 39 years of refinement. LegalZoom's platform is polished but built for breadth — leases, LLCs, trademarks, estate plans — rather than estate-planning depth. Edge to WillMaker for focus.
Ongoing updates. Estate plans need refreshing — new properties, new kids, new state laws. WillMaker: free for year one, $40 per update period after. LegalZoom: updates flow through your plan or new document purchases, so you're paying continuously whether you revise or not. For landlords who buy properties regularly, WillMaker's update pricing is cheaper; LegalZoom's advantage is that an attorney can review each revision.
Which should you pick? Simple vs. complex estates
Choose WillMaker if: your estate is straightforward — spouse, kids, a few rental properties, nothing exotic — and you're comfortable with pure DIY. At $149 for the Plus tier, it's the best dollars-to-protection ratio available: a living trust that keeps your properties out of probate, a will, the durable POA your tenants' rent checks depend on, and health care documents, all generated in an afternoon. Skip the $109 Starter tier as a landlord — without the trust and power of attorney, it doesn't solve your problem.
Choose LegalZoom if: you want attorney access as part of the deal. If your estate has any wrinkles — blended family, a special-needs beneficiary, property in multiple states — a lawyer's judgment is worth more than the software's savings, and LegalZoom's ~$199/year Personal Attorney Plan is the cheapest way to get an attorney to look at your plan.
Choose a local estate attorney if: your estate has real complexity or real tax exposure — blended families with potential disputes, special-needs trusts, business succession, or property portfolios with tax implications. Neither WillMaker nor LegalZoom substitutes for an attorney's judgment on edge cases. At $1,500–$3,000 for a basic attorney-drafted plan, it's 10x the software cost — but for a complex estate, it's the correct 10x.
FAQ
Is a WillMaker will as legally valid as a LegalZoom will?
Yes, when executed according to your state's formalities (signature, witnesses, sometimes notarization). Both services generate state-specific documents. What differs isn't legal validity — it's the support model: WillMaker gives you software and local storage; LegalZoom gives you a platform plus optional attorney consultations.
Does a landlord need a trust, or is a will enough?
A will alone sends your properties through probate. If you hold even one rental property, a living trust (or a TOD deed in states that allow them) keeps it out of probate and into your heirs' hands faster and cheaper.
Which is cheaper over five years?
WillMaker Plus: $149 upfront, free revisions year one, $40 per update period after — roughly $149–$229 total. LegalZoom: higher bundle pricing upfront, plus roughly $199/year if you keep the attorney plan. WillMaker wins on cost by a wide margin; you're paying LegalZoom for attorney access, not document generation.
Do these cover my LLC-owned properties?
The estate documents cover your ownership interests; if your properties are held in an LLC, what transfers is your membership interest in the LLC, not the properties directly. See our LLC vs. personal ownership guide for the entity side of the picture.
The verdict
For most landlords with straightforward estates, WillMaker Plus at $149 is the better buy: a living trust, a will, a durable power of attorney, and health care documents, generated in an afternoon, stored on your own computer, updatable for $40. It solves the landlord's estate problems at the lowest credible price on the market.
LegalZoom earns its place when you want what WillMaker can't give you — a real attorney answering your questions. If the idea of a DIY estate plan with no professional review keeps you up at night, or your estate has wrinkles that software can't evaluate, LegalZoom's attorney-plan model is the middle ground between $149 software and a $2,000 attorney. Pick the model that matches your estate's complexity: simple estate, WillMaker; want-a-lawyer-involved, LegalZoom; genuinely complex, hire the attorney.
Compare more landlord software
- Landlord software compared: all reviews & comparisons
- Nolo WillMaker Review (2026): Estate Planning Software for Landlords
- LegalZoom for Landlords: Lease Agreements, LLCs, and Legal Plans (2026 Review)
- WillMaker vs Rocket Lawyer for Landlords (2026): One-Time Estate Documents vs Full Legal Subscription
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