Public Trust offers different will packages and optional services, so its online will cost depends on your circumstances and the selected extras. Its current terms include an eligible free annual like-for-like update, which makes it inaccurate to describe the service as requiring a compulsory annual update subscription. Compare the dated quote, review options, signing help, storage and eventual executor fees with alternatives such as Footprint and Sharesies. Prices and terms below were checked on 2 November 2026; confirm the final checkout total before buying.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipSeparate the drafting price from the estate's future costs
A will comparison needs two timelines. The first covers the document you buy now: questionnaire, draft, review, final download and signing help. The second concerns what happens later: amendments, storage, probate, asset collection, tax work and distribution. A low drafting price does not tell you the total estate-administration cost, and an annual package may purchase services beyond document editing.
Read the executor clause as carefully as the price. Ask whether you can choose your own executor and whether a particular appointment is required for an advertised benefit. Identify the provider of any future administration service. A company supplying an online questionnaire and an organisation charging your estate later may have different roles and contractual terms.
Use practical executor planning to understand the work involved. The Ministry of Justice's probate information helps explain why administration can involve more than distributing the account balances. Compare like-for-like work rather than treating every future professional fee as an undisclosed drafting charge.
What Public Trust's current offer establishes
Public Trust's current will-pricing page describes package selection and optional extras, including personalised clauses and expert review. It also advertises in-centre witnessing for NZ$68 per will. The final package and checkout remain important because a starting price may not cover the circumstances you enter in the questionnaire.
The September 2026 Public Trust price list, reached through its current fees page and checked on 2 November 2026, lists Basic at NZ$69, Standard at NZ$99 and Comprehensive at NZ$159. Each includes an annual online reopening. Additional online reopenings are NZ$33, NZ$50 and NZ$79 respectively. Standard adds guardian appointments and other features; Comprehensive adds options including certain overseas assets, trusts, life interests and blended-family circumstances. Choose the package that fits the instructions, and confirm extras and discounts before payment.
If a price is not clearly displayed for your circumstances, obtain the live quote before payment. Record the package, whether the price is for one or two wills, GST, optional additions and any conditions of a discount. The online terms of engagement state that prices are in New Zealand dollars and inclusive of GST unless otherwise agreed.
The annual update is conditional, and not a compulsory subscription
Public Trust's free annual update terms describe eligibility for customers purchasing or updating qualifying products from the specified October 2025 commencement. The benefit is like-for-like in the same channel and remains available until further notice. Expert reviews are excluded, and moving to a higher product level can require payment of the difference.
That is materially different from saying every user must pay a recurring annual fee to keep a signed will valid. The benefit's conditions still matter: when it can be used, what counts as an upgrade and which additional services cost extra. Save the terms that apply to your purchase and ask about an unusual change before assuming it falls within an ordinary update.
Maintain family document organisation so the purchase date, update entitlement and final executed version can be found together. Access to an online editing tool and the legal status of an already signed will are separate questions. A new draft also needs any required execution before it replaces the previous instrument.
Footprint: distinguish the single purchase from annual packages
Footprint advertises a NZ$100 Single Will and separate annual will packages. The NZ$120 annual Will Package includes specified administration-related benefits, while a different annual product has its own inclusions. The single purchase is not evidence that a subscription is compulsory, and the annual package should not be assessed as though it purchases only the same document.
Footprint's published FAQs explain cancellation by email and describe access continuing for the paid year where cancellation occurs during year one, without a refund for that part-year cancellation. Read the actual package terms for benefits, future administration, exclusions and what changes when payments cease. Do not infer automatic-renewal details that the evidence does not establish.
The same FAQ distinguishes the consequences of choosing a personal executor and the availability or cost of support under different products. Ask what would happen in your own estate, including overseas assets or a more complex administration. An advertised value attached to a benefit is not the same as a guarantee that every conceivable estate cost is covered.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipSharesies and free alternatives provide other cost models
Sharesies' published will pricing is NZ$99 for an individual and NZ$168 for a couple. It includes free edits during the first 30 days after payment, with NZ$49 charged for many later reopenings. Changes to specified non-monetary gift and asset lists remain free under the published offer. Compare the changes you expect to make rather than assuming every edit has the same cost.
EveryWill New Zealand publicly advertises a free standard online will funded by charity partnerships. A free offer can be a real alternative for suitable instructions; charitable funding does not, by itself, prove coercion, a required bequest or sale of personal information. Check the current NZ service, eligibility and policy disclosures rather than transplanting an Australian brand description.
Review the final document and the online Will guide distinction between drafting and execution. Price is not a statutory validity criterion. A free draft can become a valid will when the legal requirements are satisfied, while paying for a document does not make an unsigned or unsuitable version legally effective.
Compare the offer against a written list of your requirements
Before entering a checkout, describe your actual needs: executor and substitute, beneficiaries, residue, specific gifts, children, property ownership and any unusual circumstances. Ask which package covers those instructions and what human assistance is included. A completeness check, technical support and individual legal advice are not interchangeable services.
Couples should compare two individual documents and the terms of any mirrored workflow. Joint wills comparison information helps identify the questions, while a blended family may need advice about the survivor's freedom to change their will. Similar templates do not automatically preserve each parent's intended final inheritance for their children.
Use blended family planning where there are competing partner and child interests. A fixed-price product may cover some complex situations through a higher level or optional advice, while another service may refer you elsewhere. The right comparison is whether the legal work you need is actually provided, rather than whether the homepage says comprehensive.
Check human review and signing assistance separately
Ask who performs a review, what they assess and which concerns they will flag. A reviewer may check that the form is completed, offer particular drafting guidance or provide a broader legal service. Find out whether they assess ownership, relationships, tax, capacity or foreign assets. Do not assume all those subjects are covered because the word expert appears in the package description.
Public Trust's current page lists expert review as an optional addition and identifies a paid witnessing option. A customer arranging their own suitable witnesses should compare that route separately. The Wills Act 2007 sets the ordinary New Zealand execution framework; a platform's convenience features do not replace it.
The Law Society's will-making information explains why individual advice can matter. If your instructions involve disputed ownership, a trust, an intended exclusion or an overseas property, identify that need before buying a standard product. It may be cheaper to obtain the right advice once than to repeatedly purchase unsuitable drafts.
Find out what happens after cancellation or a provider change
Read account cancellation, document-retention and retrieval terms before assuming you can leave without taking any action. Public Trust's online engagement terms distinguish the end of account access from retention of data and place responsibility on users to keep necessary backups. Footprint's package conditions need to be checked for the benefits attached to continuing payments.
Keep the executed original, its location and a reference copy appropriately. Secure document storage for estate records should remain workable if you change services, email addresses or phone numbers. Do not leave the executor's only location record inside an account that nobody will be able to recover.
Apply password hygiene to the provider account and avoid a shared login through which someone might unintentionally edit another person's instructions. A family can share practical information without treating a personal will account as a general household workspace. Each will-maker should retain control of their own decisions.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipInspect the estate-administration appointment and fees
Ask who can act, what work is charged, how the estimate is calculated and which third-party expenses sit outside it. A professional executor may provide useful independence and expertise, while a family executor may still need to pay for legal, tax or other help. There is no reliable universal administration fee for every New Zealand estate.
Public Trust's current pricing page says its estate-administration charges depend on the work, rather than simply the estate's value. Obtain its applicable fee information and an explanation of the appointment if considering the service. Do not substitute a third-party review's older percentage comparison for current primary terms.
An executor handover checklist can record the provider, appointment, relevant terms and professional contacts. Include banking access planning so the estate's institutions can be identified lawfully. A drafting discount has limited practical value if the executor later cannot find the original or establish where the assets are held.
Compare the broader planning tools without inventing inclusions
Will drafting is one component of preparation. A person may also want to record insurance, accounts, contacts and personal wishes. Keep family insurance records current and distinguish policy ownership from the will's beneficiary instructions. A vault or dashboard does not automatically control how an insurer pays a claim.
Include digital assets planning and a digital inheritance checklist for accounts that need discovery or formal provider requests. Do not place live recovery phrases or passwords in the will. Transferable rights, legal authority and technical access need different records and may follow different processes.
A family wishes conversation guide can help you discuss the arrangements with an executor or partner before choosing a service. Personal preferences can be explained through a letter of wishes guide. Ensure it supports rather than contradicts the legal instrument. A service offering storage or templates should be assessed on its actual functions, security information, access controls and limits, without assuming every competitor omits those features.
Place Evaheld in the comparison fairly
Evaheld combines will creation with estate essentials, health and care wishes, and personal legacy records. Its free online will maker information is a useful starting point for the drafting process. Confirm the available jurisdiction, the product's scope and the execution steps before relying on the resulting document for a particular estate.
The current Evaheld plan information distinguishes the Free Vault's five written items from paid upload, audio and video features. A free written record is not the same as unlimited document uploads or a paid password manager. Compare the features you will use, while keeping any upgrade optional and separate from an unsupported claim that every other will platform requires a subscription.
The purchasing checklist is straightforward: obtain a dated NZD quote, identify compulsory and optional items, read the update conditions, inspect the executor appointment, understand review scope, complete execution and preserve the original. Choose the service that fits your legal needs and gives your family a usable plan, rather than relying on either the lowest headline or the strongest marketing claim.
Use a five-year model without confusing the products
Consider a hypothetical person who needs a straightforward will now and one later replacement. At Footprint's advertised NZ$100 single-will price, buying two separate documents would total NZ$200 if prices, eligibility and the product remained unchanged. This is an illustration of the purchase model, not a promise of future pricing or an assessment of suitability for every change.
Five charged years of a NZ$120 annual package would total NZ$600 at the advertised annual rate. That does not prove the package is worse value. It includes specified services beyond the original draft, and those benefits need to be valued against what the person wants and the terms that apply. The model becomes misleading if it counts every annual payment while assigning zero value to included administration-related services without examining them.
For a Sharesies individual will, the advertised NZ$99 document and two hypothetical NZ$49 later reopenings total NZ$197. The initial free period and changes that remain free must be distinguished. Someone updating only a listed asset may have a different cost from someone changing a residuary beneficiary. Ask which category the actual amendment falls into before building the comparison.
For Public Trust, start with the current package quote and then apply the eligible annual-update conditions. Add any upgrade, review or other service actually required. Do not automatically insert an annual charge merely to make the model resemble an optional subscription product. A valid comparison may have a one-off starting cost, no charge for an eligible annual update and additional amounts only for specified extras.
State every assumption alongside the arithmetic. Future prices can change, a customer's needs can become more complex and a promotion may end. The model should clarify the decision you face today rather than suggest that the next five years can be bought at a guaranteed rate unless the contract expressly says so.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipAsk five questions before paying for a review
First, does the reviewer examine your answers only, or also documents such as the title, trust deed or relationship-property agreement? Second, can they recommend bespoke clauses, or are they limited to the platform's standard choices? Third, what happens if they identify a situation the online product cannot handle? Fourth, will you receive an explanation of changes before signing? Fifth, what remains your responsibility to verify?
These questions help compare the scope rather than the label. Technical assistance may explain how to use a field without advising which person should inherit. A document check may identify a missing name without assessing a partner's independent rights. A broader professional service may address those questions and charge accordingly. None should be described as identical simply because a human looks at the form.
Keep the answer with the quote. If the service changes after the questionnaire reveals a complication, ask for the revised scope and total before proceeding. A responsible referral or price adjustment can be evidence that the original product was unsuitable, rather than proof of an undisclosed recurring fee.
Separate signing help, original storage and a reference copy
A witnessing appointment assists with execution. Original storage safeguards the legal document. A digital copy helps discovery and reference. One package may include all three, while another offers them separately. Ask exactly which service you will receive and what the executor must do to retrieve the original after death.
If you arrange independent witnesses yourself, ensure the process meets the law and the final document's appropriate instructions. A paid signing appointment is not a universal statutory requirement. Equally, avoiding the appointment fee is not a saving if the ceremony is then carried out incorrectly and the estate has to resolve the consequences.
For storage, ask about retrieval, identity checks, charges and what happens if you later appoint a different executor or change provider. A scan should be complete and legible, but the location of the executed original still matters. Tell the executor where it is rather than assuming a supplier will automatically contact the right person.
Treat cancellation as a record-management step
Before ending a service, confirm the cancellation route, effective date and what access or benefits continue. Retain the confirmation and check later statements if recurring billing was involved. The provider's actual terms determine refund and renewal conditions; a reviewer should not invent a cancellation rule from the mere existence of an annual price.
Identify which records you need to keep and how the service permits them to be obtained. Confirm that the final signed will and original-location record remain accessible through an appropriate route. A decision to stop buying platform services should not leave the family uncertain about which will is operative or where it is stored.
If changing the will as well as the service, treat that as a separate legal task. Arrange the new draft, review and execution as needed, and obtain advice about revocation where multiple or overseas instruments are involved. Closing a login is not the same event as completing that legal replacement.
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
Compare will creation and the practical family handover through a digital legacy vault for wills and wishes. Choose the service and plan that fit your needs, with the legal document, execution and future administration considered separately.
