Safewill

Safewill is an online service for preparing Australian Wills and related end-of-life documents. It is best for people with relatively straightforward estates who want guided drafting followed by a legal-team check. The service is less suitable when arrangements are highly complex or when you need a completely digital signing process.

Overview

Safewill uses questions prepared by Australian lawyers to guide Will creation, with the service saying a draft can take about 20 minutes. You can write the Will without paying and are charged when you submit it for review. The legal team reviews submitted Wills and flags issues, giving a useful quality-control stage before execution.

Review is not the same as completing the legal formalities. Safewill emails the reviewed Will for printing and signing in front of two independent witnesses, so users must arrange a compliant signing themselves. The platform also provides financial and medical Powers of Attorney for situations in which you cannot make decisions while alive. It supports beneficiary planning and document storage, but has no trust support.

Safewill says it is ISO 27001 certified, encrypts data in transit with TLS and protects sensitive data at rest. Stripe processes payments as a PCI-DSS Level 1 provider, and Safewill says it does not store or log card details. Online chat and phone support are available on 1800 10 33 10.

Key features

Guided Will creation and review

The guided questionnaire is a practical fit for a standard Australian Will. Essentials includes review by Safewill’s legal team, with a stated 10–15 business-day turnaround; that delay matters if your documents are needed urgently. The Customised Will adds bespoke drafting and personalised legal advice, including rights of residence, Wills made in contemplation of marriage or divorce, and extra backup executors and beneficiaries. It also includes a complimentary consultation through affiliate firm Safewill Legal and a priority three-to-five-business-day legal review.

Lifetime planning documents

Financial and medical Powers of Attorney cover decisions during your lifetime if you lose capacity. The service therefore goes beyond a Will, although users seeking trusts or broader complex-estate structures need specialist legal help. Safewill describes its online service as suitable for most Will-writing needs, not as a law firm or replacement for advice on complex estate planning.

Updates and storage

Every purchased Will includes one year of unlimited updates. Continued unlimited updates cost $15 per year, and the subscription auto-renews annually unless you opt out. Digital storage is included with that subscription, but an $80 unlocking fee may apply if access lapses, so cancelling can affect future retrieval.

Pricing

The free start is useful for drafting and lets you defer payment until review submission, but it is not a free completed Will. Essentials is the lower-cost reviewed option; Customised costs more for legal input and broader drafting choices. There is no free trial.

Platforms

Safewill runs on web, Android and iOS, allowing drafting and account access across major device types.

Who it's for

Choose Safewill if you want a guided Australian Will, a defined legal review, optional Powers of Attorney and a year of included changes. It is particularly sensible for straightforward beneficiary arrangements where you can arrange two independent witnesses. Look elsewhere, or use Safewill’s affiliate law firm, when trusts, unusual ownership, complex family circumstances or other advanced estate structures require sustained legal advice.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Free drafting start: you can prepare the Will before committing to the review charge.
• Legal checkpoint: Essentials includes legal-team review, while Customised adds personalised advice and bespoke drafting.
• Broader end-of-life coverage: separate medical and financial Powers of Attorney address incapacity during life.
• Security and payment controls: ISO 27001 certification, encryption and Stripe processing reduce exposure of stored and payment data.

Cons

• Signing remains physical: printing and two independent witnesses are still required after review.
• Review time can delay completion: Essentials is quoted at 10–15 business days.
• Ongoing edits cost extra: unlimited updates after year one require a $15 annual subscription, which renews automatically.
• Not for complex estate planning: the online service does not provide trust support and is not a substitute for a lawyer.

Alternatives

Trust & Will is a freemium Android, iOS and web option with a free Basic membership and a $49-per-year Essentials membership; choose it if that pricing structure better suits your budget.

Everplans offers a free iOS and web tier limited to three stored items, with Premium at $99.99 per year for unlimited items; it is the better fit when organising a broader information store matters more than Safewill’s Australian legal review.

FreeWill provides free web-based estate-planning tools, including a Will, a California revocable living trust, an advance healthcare directive and financial Power of Attorney.

Gathered Here offers a free online Will with free updates and a fixed-fee probate service, making it worth considering when probate assistance is the priority.

InterActive Legal is a paid, multi-platform drafting system with elder-law and firearms-trust plans; pick it for those specialist planning areas.

EncorEstate Plans has free access plus paid one-off business-assignment and Powers Only plans, suited to narrower document needs.

WealthCounsel is a paid professional platform for firms handling trusts and estates.

Quicken WillMaker & Trust is a paid macOS, web and Windows product with one-off Starter and Plus plans for users who prefer packaged software.

See the Estate Planning Software list for more options.

Verdict

Safewill is a strong choice for Australians with ordinary estate plans who want guided drafting, a legal review and related Powers of Attorney in one service. Its main reasons to look elsewhere are the required paper-and-witness signing, the Essentials review wait and the need for specialist legal advice when your estate goes beyond standard arrangements.