It’s surprising to learn that public figures like Prince, Howard Hughes and Sonny Bono each died without a will. Yet, 70% of American families are in the same situation, lacking an estate plan.
One such individual was tech entrepreneur Cody Barbo. While planning his marriage nearly a decade ago, he realized he needed an estate plan. “I had never thought about writing a will, let alone setting up a complete estate plan,” Barbo recalled. “Honestly, I didn’t want to waste the time or spend the thousands of dollars I assumed it would take to create one with an attorney.”
Barbo and his friend Daniel Goldstein recognized a significant gap in the estate planning industry. “Protecting our families and legacies, something that should be a priority for everyone, was being neglected by a vast majority of Americans,” Barbo noted.
A Passion Project
In 2017, Barbo, Goldstein and Brian Lamb launched Trust & Will as a “passion project.” Their goal was to provide an online estate planning platform that empowers families to create estate plans and safeguard their legacies.
“Contrary to what many believe, you don’t need to spend a lot of money or hire an attorney to set up a legally binding trust or will,” said Barbo. Trust & Will’s pricing ranges from $199 to $499, making it affordable for families with small to midsize estates, which don’t require complex tax or business considerations.
“We identified a pressing need for people to protect their legacies,” said Chief Legal Officer Douglas Luftman, an experienced Silicon Valley lawyer and technology executive. “Our approach is very family-centric. We wanted to make it easy for people to protect their loved ones.”
“Our platform is straightforward to use. Based on a person’s responses, we generate estate planning documents. All the user has to do is print, sign and have them witnessed and notarized,” explained Barbo.
Not a Law Firm
Trust & Will is not a legal service; it’s an end-to-end online estate planning platform. It helps customers make crucial decisions to protect their legacies. All documents generated for customers have been reviewed by licensed attorneys to ensure compliance with state-specific laws.
“What sets us apart from other online estate planning services is that we have an easy to use, estate planning platform that provides individuals a holistic approach to help them protect their legacy,” said Luftman. “The platform specifically helps each individual meet their specific needs for their family.”
Legal Assistance Option
If customers feel they need professional legal advice while completing their documents, Trust & Will can refer them to estate planning attorneys through a nationwide network.
“Our platform complements the work of estate planning attorneys,” Luftman added. “We facilitate introductions between our customers and attorneys in our network. The attorney-client relationship is directly between the customer and the attorney, not with us.”
AI in Estate Planning
While AI is being scrutinized in the legal space for issues like hallucinations, Luftman emphasized that Trust & Will uses AI cautiously. “We utilize AI to provide general insights into estate planning and help users navigate our platform. However, we don’t use AI to generate the estate planning documents themselves. We see AI as a tool that enhances our customers’ experience, not as a replacement for subject matter expertise.”
Looking Toward an IPO
Today, Trust & Will is a seven-year-old technology company with nearly 100 employees. It has prepared estate plans for over 700,000 members and raised over $40 million in capital. The company has formed partnerships with major financial institutions like MassMutual, USAA, Navy Federal, Fifth Third Bank, SoFi, and Acorns. Now, it has its sights set on an IPO.
“Our long-term vision is to expand our estate planning services to business owners and consumers alike,” said Luftman. “We make estate planning simple, helping people overcome the fear of something that can seem intimidating. What we love most is helping people protect their legacies.”
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