Rocket Lawyer Review: Best Legal Advice Access
The free Rocket Lawyer will maker is a great first step in estate planning. But you may need to purchase a paid plan to finalize your will or trust.
- Rocket Lawyer is free to start using. But exporting your documents to complete them requires a paid membership, which ranges from $20–$40 per month.
- Rocket Lawyer is more of a document supplier than an online will-making service. It has a library of templates you can use for a fee, but it's not an end-to-end service.
- With a paid membership, you gain access to Rocket Lawyer’s Legal Pro network of paralegals and attorneys.
- Rocket Lawyer memberships come with Rocket Copilot AI, which every user might not want.
NCOA connects older adults and their families with trusted tools and resources that support health, independence, and peace of mind. When it comes to estate planning, that means carefully vetting the services we recommend to help you feel confident about making important legal decisions online.
We spent more than 200 hours researching and evaluating online estate planning platforms before making our recommendations. We:
- Consulted with estate planning attorneys, financial advisors, and care providers
- Created accounts and completed real estate planning documents using each platform’s tools
- Evaluated ease of use, document accuracy, customization options, and security protocols
- Reviewed thousands of verified customer ratings to understand satisfaction, support, and usability trends
Our testing is ongoing. And we continue to monitor new features, updated policies, and platform improvements so our recommendations remain current and relevant. Read more about our estate planning testing methodology.
When we surveyed American adults about why they haven’t planned their estates, 28% of respondents said they just “keep putting it off.” But that doesn’t mean people aren’t thinking about estate planning. When we asked how far along respondents were in making a will, the majority had talked to their loved ones. And almost 13% had researched estate planning online.1
Online will-making services can be a great resource. Of our surveyed adults who do have a will, 10% used Rocket Lawyer to make it. These respondents said they sought online will makers for convenience, or because they “needed only a simple will.”1 In our roundup of Best Online Will Makers, we chose Rocket Lawyer as best for legal advice access.
This Rocket Lawyer review will unpack what sort of estate planning documents you can make on the site and what a membership will cost you. We'll also cover what’s left for you to do offline after you've used the service to start the estate planning process.
Rocket Lawyer
- Free to start planning your will or estate
- Optional legal guidance available for an extra fee
- 7-day free trial
- Offers a comprehensive legal document library
Why we like Rocket Lawyer
Rocket Lawyer may be a good option for people who already have an attorney lined up and want to come to their first estate planning meeting ready to go. “It's a good first step to organize your thoughts and then take that to an attorney to review,” one of our testers said of Rocket Lawyer.
Rocket Lawyer has an attorney notes section you can use as you fill out the will form. The form prompts you for your needs and wishes, so you don’t have to sit down knowing all the answers. Rocket Lawyer’s will and testament form doesn’t take long to complete—our testers report being done in around 15 minutes.
Rocket Lawyer also grants you access to its "Legal Pro" network of paralegals and attorneys if you join the Legal or Legal+ paid membership tier. This service enables you to ask a question and receive an answer from a legal professional in one business day. You also have the option to schedule a 20-minute live consultation with Rocket Lawyer’s legal network through Google Meet.
Rocket Lawyer pros and cons
Pros
- Wide variety of legal forms
- 7-day free trial
- Free will template
- Legal Pro network available
Cons
- Limited digital storage (requires paid membership)
- Doesn’t work with Firefox
- Auto-renewal can lead to sneaky, unexpected billing
- Can’t exclude Rocket Copilot AI from your membership
Compare Rocket Lawyer vs. competitors
| Comparison Features | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Additional cost for attorney access | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Wills for multiple family members | No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Satisfaction guarantee | No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Secure digital storage | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Free unlimited update period | Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Available in all 50 states (+DC) | Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Rocket Lawyer estate planning documents
Rocket Lawyer’s online estate planning includes services for both wills and living trusts. You should consider a trust rather than a will if you have complex assets to distribute. For example, hedge funds, investments, or multiple homes may be a reason to choose a trust. Another might be if you plan to rely on Medicaid in retirement, and don’t want your home to factor into your asset evaluation.
It offers packages and individual services, with the option to change plans within 60 days.
Rocket Lawyer’s last will and testament services
Estate planning is important for everyone,” says Legal Karma’s Patrick Hicks. “It’s not just about wealth and assets. Estate planning ensures that you leave your family and loved ones with clear guidance on your wishes.”
Without a will in place, your assets could be stuck in probate court for months after your death. This can leave your loved ones and pets without guardianship (and sometimes without a home). Dying without an estate plan at the very least means your survivors have to pay out of pocket for your funeral expenses. This is because any money you left to cover your funeral is tied up in court.
Having a will in place eases the burden on your loved ones. And using an online creation service can ease your burden. Our respondents said using an online will maker was “a great experience I’d highly recommend.” When asked how they’d describe their online will maker experience, the word “easy” cropped up in results over 91 times.1
Rocket Lawyer’s will and testament services have a notes section for you to set aside attorney questions as you go. One of our testers said Rocket Lawyer’s “great explanations” made them feel confident when supplying their answers.
Rocket Lawyer living trusts
You should opt for a trust instead of a will if you leave money to a beneficiary upon your death but want to control their access because of their age, shifting marital status, or lifestyle. A trust is like creating a payment plan enforced by your trustee(s), instead of issuing a lump sum to the beneficiary upon your death.
An irrevocable trust involves giving up control of your assets while alive (you would need to ask a trustee for permission to use your own money). Irrevocable trusts require ongoing administration with your estate. A revocable trust is much easier to update.
Rocket Lawyer also offers the option to make a pour-over will, which is when you name your existing trust as a beneficiary in your will. Be careful with pour-over wills, as all wills are subject to probate court after your death. If your goal is to avoid probate, make a trust instead of a pour-over will.
How Rocket Lawyer works
Rocket Lawyer is a form creation service. Depending on your state's requirements, you might still need to take your Rocket Lawyer-generated forms to a notary before they become legal. You also may still want to involve an attorney. “It was more of a product than a service,” said one of our testers, after noting they could not review and file their will on Rocket Lawyer’s site.
Rocket Lawyer has a handy notes section. As you’re filling out your chosen documents, you can use this section to jot down things to ask your attorney (potentially saving on their billable hours).
It’s free to create a Rocket Lawyer account and start your document, but completing any of the forms will cost money. You’ll need to officially sign up if you want to use the documents you make on Rocket Lawyer. But you can poke around for free.
To make a will on Rocket Lawyer:
- Sign up for your free account
- Select “Last Will and Testament”
- Select your state
- Begin your form
If you sign up for Rocket Lawyer’s annual account, Rocket Legal Plus, you have access to its Legal Pro services. Legal Pro reportedly connects you with an attorney or paralegal in Rocket Lawyer’s network. You can use Legal Pro to ask questions as you fill out your will or trust.
Note: Rocket Lawyer’s membership tiers now include Rocket Copilot, an AI assistant. As with any other generative AI on the market, you do not want to put your personal data into Rocket Copilot. You can ask it broad legal questions if you cannot reach an attorney or paralegal through Legal Pro. But do not feed your personal information to the Rocket Copilot AI, which may carry privacy risks depending on how your data is handled.
What you need to create an estate plan through Rocket Lawyer
Estate planning checklists can help you get a handle on what you need before you try making a will online. Rocket Lawyer will not prompt you for documents, so it can help if you have these on hand before you begin your online will creation:
- Life insurance policy numbers
- Your primary bank account information (checking and savings)
- Investment account information
- Retirement account information
- Proof of ownership of assets (deed to your home, car titles)
- Full name(s) and contact information of the executor(s) of your estate
- Full names and contact information for all beneficiaries
Compare Rocket Lawyer estate planning services
| Comparison Features | Rocket Lawyer |
Rocket Legal |
Rocket Legal+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free |
$40/month |
$240/year |
| Will creation | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Trust creation | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Unlimited update period | No |
With membership |
With membership |
| Attorney assistance | No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Power of attorney | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Medical power of attorney | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Living will/Healthcare directive | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Creating individual documents with Rocket Lawyer
Rocket Lawyer is more of a document supplier than an online will maker. There is no data storage without an account, and no dashboard for free plan users—both of which would be beneficial for estate planning. It’s better to think of Rocket Lawyer as a library of templates you can use for a fee, not an end-to-end service.
Rocket Lawyer has a service called RocketSign, where a network of lawyers can oversee the forms you need to sign. While this service assists with business paperwork, wills and trusts require notaries and witnesses. These are usually signed in person in a courthouse or with a clerk.
Rocket Lawyer’s financial power of attorney
Financial power of attorney is when you give someone control to make financial decisions for you while you’re incapacitated, ill, or otherwise unable to do so. You are known as the "principal," and the person you choose to make your decisions is called your "attorney-in-fact." Rocket Lawyer provides a general power of attorney template, which may include financial authority depending on your state.
Rocket Lawyer’s medical power of attorney and advance directive
Rocket Lawyer has a separate form for medical power of attorney. A medical power of attorney is someone you nominate to make your health care decisions when you’re unable to. An advance directive, or advanced health care directive (AHCD), is a set of instructions about the kind of medical care you want. Health care teams rely on your AHCD if you cannot advocate for yourself. Some states require both a medical power of attorney and an AHCD, while other states let you have one or the other.
AHCDs cover your wishes (whether you want life-sustaining treatment continued or stopped, if you want a feeding tube while comatose, etc.). AHCDs are often medical preferences that run down an established list. If something falls outside your AHCD list, that’s when medical professionals talk to your medical power of attorney.
Rocket Lawyer also offers an Advance Health Care Directive Revocation, which undoes your advance directive when filed. Be careful not to fill that out if you’re hoping to establish a health care directive. Advance Health Care Directives are called simply “advance directives” on Rocket Lawyer’s site.
Can you update your Rocket Lawyer will?
You can use Rocket Lawyer to update (officially called “revoke”) an existing will you made outside of the site. You can’t update a will you initially made on Rocket Lawyer unless you pay for one of its membership tiers. Once you’re a member, you should have access to your original Rocket Lawyer will in Rocket Lawyer’s virtual storage.
You should update your will for any major life event, such as:
- Moving to a new state
- Growing your family (marriage or birth)
- Growing your assets (buying a home, inheriting or investing large sums)
- Losing your assets (fire, debt)
- If someone named in your will dies
Keep in mind, updates to your will are not legally recognized until the new will is signed, witnessed, notarized, and all previous copies of the last version of the will have been destroyed. Updating your Rocket Lawyer will and testament counts as a revocation only once the new will is notarized.
Rocket Lawyer customer service
You can reach Rocket Lawyer’s customer service via phone at 877-881-0947 or by emailing support@rocketlawyer.com. Rocket Lawyer customer service operates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m.- 6 p.m. PT.
Rocket Lawyer satisfaction guarantee
Rocket Lawyer has no satisfaction guarantee, but it does have a 7-day free trial for both the Rocket Legal and Rocket Legal Plus packages.
Frequently asked questions
Is Rocket Lawyer legit?
Yes, Rocket Lawyer is legit. It can connect you to attorneys and paralegals, and enables you to begin filing dozens of different forms and contracts. But depending on the forms you created, you might need to complete the forms offline, often with a notary or a witness.
Is Rocket Lawyer free?
Rocket Lawyer offers a free trial, but most features require a paid subscription. In order to use the documents you generate inside Rocket Lawyer, you will need to pay for one of its service tiers.
How to cancel Rocket Lawyer?
You can cancel your Rocket Lawyer subscription by calling the customer service number or by canceling from within your account. Pay very close attention when you cancel Rocket Lawyer, especially to the auto-renewal schedule. Rocket Lawyer has some dissatisfied customers who took to Trustpilot to vent about their negative billing experiences.
How to write a will online?
With the help of verified online will makers, you can write a will online. It can help if you have the names, addresses, and bank accounts of everyone you plan to name in your will at the ready before you start writing a will online. For more tips, check out our piece on how to make a will without a lawyer.
Questions? Email us at reviewsteam@ncoa.org