Gathered Here has been associated with free Australian will-writing, while the EveryWill brand operates a free will-writing site specifically for New Zealand residents. The important distinction is between the named service, the legal entity operating it, the jurisdiction covered and the actual terms being offered. EveryWill New Zealand currently advertises a no-charge standard online will funded by charitable partners, with a charitable gift entirely optional. The completed document still must be signed and witnessed correctly.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipThe answer depends on which service you are using
The EveryWill New Zealand site explicitly markets a free New Zealand will service and describes a three-step process: complete a questionnaire, download and print the will, then sign it with two witnesses. It explains that charities support the platform and that users may choose to include a charitable bequest, but a gift is not compulsory. The site's claims need to be assessed on their own terms, not by assuming that a service historically known as Gathered Here in Australia is unavailable to New Zealanders.
When assessing 'Gathered Here', ask whether the link takes you to the Australian product, to a New Zealand-specific EveryWill site or to an unrelated reseller or advertisement. A browser accepting a NZ postcode is not by itself proof that the legal terms and template suit New Zealand. The Wills Act 2007, not an Australian state succession statute, is the essential starting point for an NZ will.
A useful legal review identifies who produces the template, whether the provider offers bespoke advice, whether the final file can be downloaded without payment, what updates cost and how information will be processed. Never confuse a free draft with a free, usable final legal document.
How an NZ free-will platform can be funded
A platform can legitimately finance free will-writing through partnerships with charities that hope some users may voluntarily leave gifts. The model is similar in broad concept to charities encouraging legacy giving through participating legal professionals. No charity contribution should be represented as legally required unless the written terms actually make it a condition.
EveryWill's own explanation says its platform is funded by more than 1,000 charities and that charitable bequests are optional. An objective review should acknowledge this plainly rather than invent claims of pressure, deceptive charges or sale of personal data. A consumer may nevertheless want to understand how charitable options are presented and whether any promotional communications require consent.
A gift in a will generally takes effect only when the will-maker dies and the will is operative, subject to estate liabilities and succession law. Leaving a bequest is not the same as paying a present-day subscription. Ask whether any suggested charity gift is preselected, whether it can be changed, and whether the user receives the same completed will if the charity section is left blank.
For privacy, read the actual privacy policy and the provider's disclosures about data storage, third-party partners and retention. No general statement that an application is 'secure' substitutes for knowing what information is collected and who receives it.
Comparing EveryWill with paid NZ alternatives
A genuine free option should be compared with commercial offerings on suitability, not treated as automatically inferior. Footprint advertises a NZ$100 Single Will, alongside separate annual packages. Sharesies advertises NZ$99 for an individual will, with a distinction between the initial free update window and later paid reopenings.
Public Trust provides will services online and through advisers and currently offers eligible free annual updates with new wills. That is a different value proposition from a wholly free, charity-funded online template. A provider may also offer professional executor, document storage or legal-review services. Each should be assessed in its own right.
Ask whether you can choose your own executor, rather than being required to appoint the drafting provider or an affiliate. MoneyHub's July 2026 comparison explains that professional executor costs may be far more significant than the cost of a will. It also identifies EveryWill as a no-cost NZ service.
What makes the signed will valid?
The New Zealand Wills Act 2007 requires a will in writing, with the will-maker's signature or permitted directed signature, and at least two witnesses together in the will-maker's presence at signing or acknowledgement. The witnesses then sign in the will-maker's presence. The will-maker must have testamentary capacity and be acting voluntarily.
Community Law recommends that all parties sign or initial pages as a practical protection against substitution. That is not the same as a universal statutory requirement for all pages. Avoid selecting a beneficiary or the beneficiary's partner as a witness, because under the Act the relevant gift may be void even if the document remains valid.
When completing a free online will, print and sign the actual final version rather than simply saving a PDF in an account. Keep the signed original in a known location and tell the executor how to retrieve it. A cloud copy helps the family find information but does not automatically replace the executed original.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipWhen a free online template may not suit your estate
A free will can be valid and appropriate for a straightforward situation. Complexity arises when there is a family trust, disputed relationship property, a blended family, overseas assets, a dependent adult, unusual beneficiary arrangements, a private business or likely disagreement about capacity. The legal risk is not caused by the low price, but by using a document that cannot reflect the facts.
Under the Property (Relationships) Act 1976, a surviving qualifying spouse or partner can have election rights affecting relationship property on death. A basic will cannot simply ignore a partner's independent property rights. Under the Family Protection Act 1955, qualifying family members may seek further provision in some circumstances even where a will was formally valid.
A person raising vulnerable children may need specific trust terms, suitable trustees and sufficient funds for care. A comparison of estate planning lawyer vs online estate planning tools comparison is useful when deciding how much professional input is warranted.
The questions to ask before choosing free
Is the completed will actually free to download? Is it intended for New Zealand, not an overseas legal system? Which clauses cover executors, substitute beneficiaries, children, a residual gift and earlier wills? What happens if you change your mind before signing? Can you access your original draft after years without payment? Is legal advice included or explicitly excluded? Are you asked to appoint a paid professional executor?
If a charity option is presented, determine whether participation is voluntary and how to remove a proposed gift. If the platform offers storage, ask whether the stored material is a scan or the original and how an executor proves authority to retrieve it.
An executor handover pack should be prepared regardless of platform. It identifies assets, legal papers, advisers and the signed original so the will can actually be used. The letters of wishes can explain personal intentions without replacing legally operative clauses.
What if the user owns KiwiSaver or property?
A KiwiSaver balance should be recorded for the executor. The KiwiSaver Act generally directs death benefits to the estate's personal representative, except for qualifying payments under the Administration Act. The small-estate prescribed amount increased to NZ$40,000 in September 2025. A reader should not import an Australian superannuation rule into NZ advice.
Land title and relationship-property interests matter too. A joint tenancy may pass by survivorship, while separately owned assets may fall within the estate. A child named as beneficiary under a generic template may need trustees to manage their interest. The family future security checklist can help identify those practical questions before drafting.
For digital possessions, a digital assets in a will inventory is useful, but passwords and crypto recovery phrases should be stored outside the public-facing text of a will. Executors should follow platforms' lawful account processes.
Three realistic user scenarios
A single adult with no dependants, modest savings and a straightforward residuary gift may be a sensible user of EveryWill or another properly designed online product. The individual still needs independent witnesses and an executor willing to act.
A person with young children and a house jointly owned with a partner should consider children guardianship and whether the guardian will have day-to-day care, noting that New Zealand law treats guardianship and day-to-day care as different responsibilities. The couple must also check the house title and the children's potential financial provisions.
A remarried homeowner whose children and stepchildren have different expectations should not assume a generic 'everything to spouse' clause will protect everyone. blended family planning and tailored relationship-property advice may be warranted.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipPrivacy and digital legacy beyond the will
A will records who gets what, while a family also needs to know where to find documents and digital accounts. A digital inheritance guide helps identify these additional questions. A password manager and a digital vault are not interchangeable with a will or a professional executor.
Before putting beneficiaries' names, addresses or children's details into a service, read privacy terms and take account of the interests of living individuals. Avoid reusing account passwords across financial and legal services. Do not disclose recovery seeds to an ordinary customer-support representative.
An authorised representative may need to provide death certificates and probate documents after death. Simply knowing a deceased person's login does not create legal authority to act on the estate's behalf.
Decision guide: which service is most appropriate?
Choose based on the complexity of the estate and the protections you require. A free NZ-specific service may be an excellent option for a simple will. A fixed-fee tool may offer preferred features, extra support or different update arrangements. A solicitor is appropriate where the consequences of a poorly drafted clause could be substantial.
An approach to family documents cloud storage can help plan access to important records, while a digital legacy planning guide connects personal documents to the people who will need them. Neither service by itself proves legal execution.
The central answer is that EveryWill publicly offers a genuinely free NZ will-writing service. The correct review should separate that substantiated claim from questions about whether any particular person's estate fits the service.
Follow the offer from the charity link to the final document
A charity's website, an international brand and the legal document generator may show different names. Start with the exact link you intend to use. Record the destination, the country named on the service, the operating entity in the terms and whether the questionnaire is specifically intended for New Zealand. A historical Gathered Here reference on a charity page does not, by itself, mean the service is an Australian-only template or that it is charging New Zealand users.
New Zealand organisations have promoted Gathered Here-linked free wills. That matters because an assessment based solely on the Australian brand would miss local distribution arrangements. Check the offer you actually reach today and its current terms. Where a charity page and the destination describe different prices or services, ask the operator to clarify before entering sensitive information.
Keep the link and the downloaded document in your family document filing system. This gives you an evidence trail if the brand changes later. Your executor should be able to distinguish the company that supplied the draft, a charity you chose to support and anyone appointed to administer the estate. They do not necessarily have the same role or entitlement to information.
Test a free offer without confusing it with an endorsement
Begin with the eligibility and help pages. Look for exclusions involving overseas land, a family trust, competing partner obligations or unusual gifts. A responsible free service can be suitable for straightforward instructions and still refer other customers for advice. A short completion estimate is a description of the process for eligible users, not a promise that every estate can safely be settled in ten minutes.
Next, identify the stopping points. Can you read the document before signing? Can you correct a beneficiary's name? Can you remove a charity gift? Does the provider explain how to print the final version and find independent witnesses? Does a person answer questions about technical use, legal suitability or both? These checks reveal what the service does without requiring an accusation about its business model.
Compare joint wills and mirror wills if you are completing documents as a couple. Similar documents do not necessarily bind either partner to keep the same beneficiaries in future. A single shared account also does not replace the need for each will-maker to understand and approve their own instructions. If your plan depends on the survivor being unable to change the arrangement, obtain specific advice.
Ask precise privacy questions before submitting family information
A will questionnaire can reveal relationships, children, assets, health concerns and intended gifts. Read which information is necessary for the document and which is used for optional communications. Check whether the terms describe disclosures to charity partners, service providers or professional advisers, and whether you can make different consent choices. An optional bequest and consent to marketing are separate decisions.
The right approach is evidence-based. Do not assume a free service sells personal information, and do not assume a paid service has fewer data recipients. If a policy does not answer your question, write to the operator and retain the reply. Limit information you place in open support channels. Never send a seed phrase, account password or complete identity file simply to ask how a free will works.
Household password hygiene still matters when a platform advertises free lifetime access. Use a unique password, protect recovery methods and avoid a shared login through which a partner could unknowingly change your instructions. Record account ownership clearly. Authorised family sharing should be deliberate and limited to what each person actually needs.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipKeep personal wishes distinct from commercial consent
Before making a charitable gift, decide whether it is a fixed amount, a share of residue or a particular asset, and ask for advice if the gift is substantial or restricted to a specific purpose. Identify the correct charity rather than relying on an abbreviated trading name. Consider what happens if the organisation merges, changes its activities or no longer exists when the gift becomes payable.
You can explain your motivation in a letter of wishes template, without assuming that a non-binding explanation overrides the legal gift. The will and any separately recorded wishes should point in the same direction. The purpose is to help the executor understand your choice, not to create a second, inconsistent set of distribution instructions.
Include family in an appropriate conversation if that will reduce confusion or pressure. A family wishes conversation guide can help you explain why you chose a particular executor or bequest. The final decisions remain yours. A platform should not be credited with resolving coercion, family conflict or testamentary-capacity concerns merely because its form is easy to complete.
Leave with a usable estate plan, not just a completed questionnaire
At the end, check the names, gift amounts, residue, substitute beneficiaries and executor appointments against your own decisions. Print the complete final document and follow the current New Zealand execution process. Keep the original intact, record its location and remove confusion about unsigned drafts. Revisit the instructions after important changes rather than assuming free updates make reviews happen automatically.
Evaheld can help organise will-making decisions, estate essentials and personal messages in one planning process. Compare the features currently available in your account with your needs, including any upload or sharing limits. A fair comparison recognises a genuinely free competing offer while explaining the value of an integrated record of wishes and practical information for the people who will eventually act.
Keep the service's legal name with your final record
Brand names can change, and a charity may continue using an older name in an article or email. Record the operator identified in the terms, the country of the template and the date you obtained the document. Keep a copy of the offer alongside the final signed version. This does not make the website responsible for every later change in your family circumstances; it gives you a reliable record of the service you used.
If the old link stops working, contact the current provider through an independently verified address. Do not assume a new website with a similar name is the same company. Equally, do not assume a validly executed document stops operating because the supplier changes its branding. The account relationship and the will's legal effect need to be assessed separately.
Check the New Zealand testamentary guardian guidance when making a guardian appointment; it is distinct from a promise about day-to-day care.
Related Evaheld legal resources may use Australian examples. Use their general planning concepts alongside the New Zealand legislation and official guidance cited here; do not apply foreign legal rules to an NZ will.
Your next step
If you want will-making decisions and practical family records in one place, explore a private digital legacy vault. Compare the available features and jurisdictional coverage, then begin with the instructions and contacts your executor would otherwise have to find.
Check the New Zealand testamentary guardian guidance when making a guardian appointment; it is distinct from a promise about day-to-day care.
