Willful vs. Will Kits:
Is a $25 Form Enough to Protect Your Family?
A DIY paper will kit costs about $25. A Willful estate plan starts at $129. Here's what that difference buys you, and why it matters when planning your estate.
How Willful compares to a DIY will kit
Both can produce a legally-valid Canadian will. Here's where they differ.
Guidance
A will kit gives you blank sections with little context about what belongs in them. If your situation is more complex than leaving everything to a spouse, then children, the form doesn't offer much more guidance.
Willful asks plain-language questions and builds the matching legal clauses for you.
Updates
Life changes: a marriage, a new baby, a new house, a move to a new province. With a paper kit, every change means buying a new kit and starting over. With Willful, updates are free and unlimited forever.
What's included
Most kits cover the basics of a will: executor, beneficiaries, and guardians for minor children. They almost never include power of attorney documents, which allow you to appoint someone you trust to manage your finances or health decisions if you become unable to. Willful's Premium plan includes both, alongside your will
Willful was built for how Canadians live now
Guided, error-checked, and built to keep up with your life. Your will reflects your circumstances today, with free updates for life.
How Willful Willful or a DIY will kit?
Here's the difference.
A guided walkthrough, not a fill-in-the-blank page
A will kit assumes you already know what belongs in each section. Willful asks instead: who's your executor, who are your beneficiaries, who looks after your kids if something happens to you. Your answers become the legal clauses, tailored to your province and personal circumstances.
A small mistake on paper can be a big problem in probate
Probate is the court process that confirms a will is valid so an executor can settle the estate. Common paper-kit errors: a beneficiary witnesses the will (which invalidates it), a required section gets skipped, or two clauses contradict each other. These mistakes are often invisible until the will reaches probate, when the will-maker isn't around to fix them. Willful's guided process detects conflicts and won't let you skip a required section.
Your estate plan is more than just a will
A power of attorney lets you choose someone you trust to manage your finances or health decisions if you're unable to. Paper kits almost never include one. Willful's Premium plan includes power of attorney for property and for personal care, alongside your will.
Update your will without buying a new kit
Most Canadians update their will at least once, after a marriage, a baby, or a new house. A paper kit means starting over and paying each time again. With Willful, just log back in, make the change, and print. Updates are free, forever.
Signing instructions for your province
Will requirements vary by province, and most DIY kits are generic. Willful gives you province-specific, step-by-step signing instructions, plus a fully bilingual platform in Quebec.
Willful vs. will kits at a glance
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A closer look at what's included
Varies, many unreviewed
Generic, self-verify
(Using Premium)
(Using Premium)
Print, pen, physical storage
The real cost of a will kit over time
A will is a living document. Most estate lawyers suggest reviewing your will every one to two years, and updating it after any major life change.
Here's a common scenario: someone buys a $25 kit at 35. They get married. They have their first child. They buy a home. That's three life events that should each trigger an update, and three new kits at $25 each add up to another $75, plus the time and error risk of redrafting from scratch every time.
Willful: $129 once. Free updates for life.
The will kits error risk no one talks about
A will kit doesn't check your work. Some of the most common errors that can invalidate or weaken a will made from a DIY kit. For example:
- A beneficiary, or their spouse, acts as a witness, which invalidates the will
- A required section gets missed
- Two clauses contradict each other
- A beneficiary is described ambiguously
- The signing steps happen in the wrong order
These errors are usually invisible until the will is challenged or goes to probate, and by then, the will-maker isn't around to fix them.
"While fill-in-the-blank paper will kits can be an affordable option to get a will, they're not always tailored to your life situation, they don't accommodate updates in the future, and they lack the expert guidance that comes with visiting a professional or using a platform like Willful."
When is a will kit enough?
Choose Willful if:
Choose a will kit if:
The bottom line
A paper will kit costs $25 and gets you a generic document. Willful costs $129 and includes a guided, province-specific will with built-in error prevention, free lifetime updates, and the option to add power of attorney documents.
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Lawyer-reviewed. Legally valid. Free updates for life.
Frequently asked questions
They can be, if filled out and signed correctly for your province. The risk isn't legality on paper, it's execution: a wrong witness, a skipped section, or contradictory wording can invalidate the whole document, and a paper kit has no way to flag that before it's too late.
A will kit is a static, fill-in-the-blank form. You decide what goes in each section with no guidance. Willful is a guided questionnaire: you answer plain-language questions, and the platform builds the matching legal clauses around your personal circumstances and tailored to your province, flagging anything that doesn't add up.
Almost never. A power of attorney lets someone you trust manage your finances or health decisions if you become unable to. Most paper kits only cover the will itself. Willful's Premium plan includes both types of power of attorney alongside your will.
Usually the cost of an entirely new kit, since most kits can't be edited once completed. That's roughly $25 to $50 each time, plus the time to redraft it correctly. Willful updates are free, unlimited, and available any time you log in.
It depends on how your estate is. If you have no property, no minor children, and beneficiaries who won't change, a kit can work. If you own a home, have kids, or expect your life to change, the lack of guidance and updates becomes a real risk.
Upfront, yes: $129 versus $25 to $50. But most Canadians update their will more than once. Once you factor in the cost of buying a new kit for each update, Willful's one-time price is often the cheaper option over a lifetime, and it comes with a lower error risk too.