Duckpins Review
Seniors in Washington state can now get their ducks in a row with Duckpins’ affordable online estate-planning services. Here’s how it works, how much it costs, and how it stacks up against the competition.
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Despite the importance of solidifying estate-planning documents, fewer older adults have wills or trusts than ever before. Current data indicates that only 46 percent of people over 50 have filed these important legal documents with their state.1 There are many reasons why estate planning often falls to the wayside. It’s stressful to think about, and it can be confusing. The documents can also be time-consuming and expensive to create. Generating legally binding estate-planning documents, however, is the only way to protect your loved ones, assets and property, and to make your wishes known.
If you live in Washington state, there’s an easy, quick and affordable solution to this very real problem. Duckpins, an e-will and life-document company, eliminates the need to find and pay for an estate-planning attorney. The company also has plans to expand to other states in the near future. We tried Duckpins to evaluate their usefulness for older adults. Read on to find out about our experience.
What We Like About Duckpins
- Entire process is virtual and done online
- Personalized guidance is provided by professionals
- Documents are legally validated, witnessed and notarized electronically from the comfort of your own home
- Service is relatively affordable
- Documents can be updated at any time
Things to Keep In Mind About Duckpins
- Service is currently available only to Washington state residents, but it will soon expand coverage to other states
- Documents are state-specific and may not be transferable if you move out of state
- Initial fee is for document production plus one year of document management and storage, and annual renewal rates apply
- You can update your documents at any time, but won’t have access to an ongoing, one-to-one relationship with an estate-planning attorney
Duckpins Products
All of Duckpins’ estate-planning products include document generation, online ratification and one year of document management and storage in your personal Duckpin Vault. Duckpins guided us through every step of the process virtually from the comfort of our own home. That makes it a great choice for older adults who live in rural areas, as well as those who have mobility issues or are disabled or in assisted living or long-term care facilities.
Once our documents were completed, we could share them as needed with interested parties, such as heirs and proxies. You can purchase one or several Duckpins document products.
Wills and Trusts
Duckpins makes it easy to decide if you need a will or trust.
Before the document-generation process began, Duckpins prompted us to answer a simple series of questions about our assets, plans, wishes for the future, and network of trusted people, such as family members. That enabled them to guide us on whether we needed a will or a trust. Most people don’t need to have both documents, so understanding the differences between the two was very helpful.
» Related Reading: A Guide to Trusts: Everything You Need to Know
We learned that a will is a simple legal document that provides instructions about the distribution of property and financial assets after death. If you have limited assets, a will may provide you with enough legal coverage.
A trust is also referred to as a living trust, because it includes instructions about asset distribution and other pertinent details prior to death. With a trust, you transfer assets such as bank accounts, investment accounts and property into a newly formed account that is managed by an individual of your choosing. It can be a family member, friend, attorney or other type of agent.2
Wills typically require probate, a legal process that institutes the validation and administration of the contents of your will after your death. With a trust, your heirs will not need to undergo the probate process.3
» Related Reading: A Guide to Wills
General Durable Power of Attorney
Creating our Power of Attorney document
A general durable power of attorney (POA) document legally authorizes a trusted individual, such as a family member, to make legal and financial decisions on your behalf. The document can be written to go into effect immediately or to be used if you are in mental decline or become mentally incapacitated due to conditions such as dementia.
» Learn More: A Guide to Power of Attorney
The document differs from a simple, or limited, POA, which often has an expiration date attached. Limited POAs also automatically expire if you become mentally incompetent due to a condition such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Advance Health-Care Directive
Answering questions about our Advance Health Care Directive
An advance health-care directive is a legally recognized document that provides instructions for your medical care. Durable powers of attorney for health care and living wills are examples of advance health-care directives.
» Learn More: A Guide to Living Wills
The documents become activated only when you are unable to communicate your preferences for medical and emergency treatments. They’re designed to make your wishes known if you are unable to speak for yourself. Advance health-care directives also include information about the person you appoint to make the decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so.4
Authorization for the Release of Medical Records
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a privacy rule and federal law. HIPAA protects your personal health information and medical records from being shared or viewed without your permission by family members, business associates, health-care providers and health plans, among other entities.5 The rule is protective and valuable, but it must be overwritten legally for older adults who wish to share their information with others.
If you wish to grant permission for someone to see your medical records, you must name them in an authorization for the release of medical records. The document provides access to paper and electronic medical records to a person or organization of your choosing, for a specific timeframe.6
Our Experience Using Duckpins
To get started with Duckpins, we created a free account using a valid Washington state address. The only things required were a name, email address and password. We were then prompted to choose the documents we wanted to create. A description of each type of document and its use was included to eliminate guesswork.
To create the documents, we were asked to provide information about the people in our life. It was broken down into two categories: the people who depend on us, such as minor children, and the people we depend on to act on our behalf, such as a spouse or adult child.
Providing information about the people in our life
We then completed the general durable power of attorney form by indicating who our agent and backup agent would be. We were also given the opportunity to appoint a guardian, if needed, for minor children.
We indicated the terms of the first document, which included its duration, start date and special instructions, including health-care powers. We were then prompted to review the document and pay Duckpins for its creation and maintenance. The entire process of completing the POA took around 15 minutes.
Selecting an effective date for our documents
The next set of documents used the information previously provided, so they were very fast to fill out. They included the HIPAA authorization form and the advance health-care directive.
We then answered a series of questions to help us determine if we needed a will or a trust. The questions included information about property ownership, estimation of estate value and transition of assets after death. Based on our answers, Duckpins determined that we would be best served by a will rather than a trust.
» Further Reading: Best Online Will Makers
The next set of questions was used to determine the distribution of assets after death. Sentimental gifts, gifts of philanthropy and guardianship of pets was included, which made it seem very thorough. It was a super easy process and a relief to see it all laid out in writing, simply and clearly. Funeral and burial preferences were also included.
All of the filled-in documents then went through a process to make them legally binding. We were given an easy-to-follow set of instructions for working with Proof, an online notarization service. Basically all that was needed was to upload ID documents and have them verified on the Proof platform. We then joined an online meeting with a notary. The notary supplied a witness for us.
Meeting with a notary and witness to finalize our documents
Once the process was complete, the signed, legally binding documents were placed into the Duckpins Vault. We were given the opportunity to share the documents with specific individuals of our choosing, who were then provided free access to the vault.
The entire process took about an hour to complete. To expedite the process, make sure to have a government-issued ID on hand, as well as contact information, such as email addresses and phone numbers, for the people you will name as your agents and beneficiaries.
Reviewing our executed documents
Watch our video review below to learn more about our experience using Duckpins.
Duckpins Pricing
Duckpins offers a Saver Bundle of documents, which is priced at $449. A promotional price of $349 is often available. The Saver Bundle includes:
- Will or trust
- General durable power of attorney
- Advance health-care directive
- Authorization for the release of medical records
The cost breakdown is as follows:
- Create documents: $275
- Ratify documents: $75
- Manage and share documents: $99 annually
- Automatic annual renewal of document storage and management: $99
Did You Know? Estate-planning attorney’s fees vary considerably based on your state of residence. The cost of writing a basic will in an attorney’s office can cost anywhere from $300 to $1,200 — or more.
Customer Support
Before opening a free account, you can access Duckpins by filling out an online form, but no telephone number is provided for easy access to customer service. That makes Duckpins less accessible than some other estate-planning companies, such as LegalZoom, which provides unlimited phone consults with attorneys, and Trust & Will, which has plans that offer unlimited attorney access.
Once we created an account, however, we had access to a useful AI assistant that could answer our questions in real time. If there were questions the bot couldn’t answer, we could reach out to customer support via email and receive a reply within one business day.
Comparing Duckpins to the Competition
Duckpins is one of several online estate-planning companies. Since the firms provide legal documents and advice, they are state-specific. Make sure the company you choose is legally authorized to operate in your state of residence. Cost, customer service and the types of documents provided should also be taken into account.
Here’s how Duckpins compares to several of its competitors:
| Duckpins | LegalZoom | LegalShield | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Areas of operation | Washington | Available in all 50 states | Available in all 50 states |
| Average initial cost range | $349 to $449 annually | $99 to $649 annually | $29.95 to $59.95 monthly ($359.40 to $719.40 annually) |
| Services provided | Online estate-planning document creation, ratification, storage and sharing | Online creation of legal documents, including an estate-planning bundle for individuals or couples, an option to meet with an attorney via phone, and unlimited 30-minute calls with an attorney included for one year | Unlimited phone consultations with attorneys on estate-planning document creation and other legal services |
| Customer service | Online only | Online and via phone 24/7 | 24-hour telephone hotline on weekdays |
Our Methodology
To learn about Duckpins, we created a free account on their website. We went through the process of creating and ratifying legal estate-planning documents that included a will and an advance health-care directive. We connected with Duckpins’ customer-service team and with a notary and witness from Proof, an online notarization platform that is one of Duckpins’ partners.
We compared Duckpins to several of their competitors to determine if their estate-planning documentation services are cost-effective, comprehensive and valuable for older adults. Based on our hands-on experience, below are some of our findings.
- Availability: Unlike most other online estate-planning document companies, Duckpins is available only in Washington state. That obviously limits their reach and availability for older adults who may benefit from their services, but the company has plans to expand to more states in the near future.
- Cost: Duckpins is relatively cost effective and similar in price to most of their competitors. They are significantly cheaper than working one on one with an estate-planning attorney.
- Ease of use: We like Duckpins’ thorough and well thought out procedure. The explainers they provide about the documents are easy to understand, and their process is fast and easy.
- Services offered: Many of Duckpins’ competitors provide a plethora of document-planning services that include estate planning. LegalZoom, for example, works with people on limited liability company (LLC) structure, uncontested divorce settlements and some real estate services. LegalShield provides debt dispute services and legal help with traffic and automobile accidents.
- Customer service: Despite the ease of use we enjoyed while working with Duckpins, we found them less accessible via phone than some of their competitors. Older adults sometimes like to make a quick call to get an answer to an important question, and that level of care is lacking.
Final Thoughts on Duckpins
Duckpins is an easy-to-use and cost-effective estate-planning company that provides clear guidance on generating documents such as wills and trusts. They’re a good choice for seniors living in Washington state who like working with professionals exclusively online.
Their document service won’t break the bank and has a low annual renewal cost. If you have extensive or complicated holdings, however, you may be better served working one on one with an estate-planning attorney in your local area.
Frequently Asked Questions About Duckpins
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If I use Duckpins but move out of Washington, can I transfer my documents as is?
Your documents should be reviewed by a state-specific attorney or legal entity to make sure their wording is in full compliance with your new state’s regulations and laws.
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Do my heirs and agents need to buy their own Duckpins membership to look at my documents?
No. If you give them access to your documents, they can view them at will without paying any additional costs over your membership fee.
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Are Duckpins documents legal?
Yes. All of the estate-planning documents you’ll create on the Duckpins website are vetted and approved by an attorney based in Washington state.
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How do I know my documents will be secure?
Duckpins uses encryption and state-of-the-art security measures to ensure your privacy and the safety of your documents.
USA Today. (2023). Fewer older Americans are writing wills, planning estates.
National Council on Aging. (2024). Living Trust vs. Will: Key Differences.
Investopedia. (2024). Probate: What It Is and How It Works With and Without a Will.
National Institute on Aging. (2022). Advance Care Planning: Advance Directives for Health Care.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
U.S. Department of State. (2022). Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information.