Steward's position on online Living Trusts, and the refund policy we're publishing before anyone has tested it.
A friend called me yesterday. He has my cell number, so he skipped the website and just asked me directly: he wanted a Will.
A few minutes in, it was obvious his situation was outside what I wanted Steward to handle. Multiple businesses. Multiple properties. Real wealth, built over a lot of years. Grown kids. I told him I wanted an estate planning attorney looking at the whole picture with him, not an online form trying to flatten it.
So I told him that. On the phone. Before he ever pulled out a card.
Then I gave him the name of an attorney.
Here's the part I keep thinking about. He didn't hang up annoyed. He asked me who Steward actually IS for. I told him…your kids. Grown, building careers, maybe a mortgage, maybe a first baby on the way. Nothing complicated yet. Nothing in place either.
He passed it along to them.
That's the whole company in one phone call. I lost the sale I could have made and got a family instead.
We don't sell Trusts
Trust packages generally cost more than basic Will packages. That creates an obvious commercial incentive for any provider that sells both. It does not prove a Trust is wrong, and it does not prove the provider is acting in bad faith. It simply means the recommendation should survive one question: what specific problem is this Trust solving for this family?
Steward draws a narrower product boundary. We sell foundational Will-based planning online. When the facts call for advanced Trust planning or individualized legal advice, we would rather make an attorney handoff than make a more complicated product fit because it is available to sell.
The policy, in writing, on day one
Some situations call for an attorney and not a website. A business. Property in more than one state. A blended family. Real wealth you've spent years building. Here's exactly what we do when yours is one of them.
If you aren't sure which side of that line you're on, email support@withsteward.com before you spend anything. We aren't a law firm. We can't give you legal advice and won't pretend to. What I can tell you is whether this product is right for your situation. If it isn't, I'll say so before you pay rather than after.
And if you've already paid by the time it becomes clear? You get your money back. Thirty days, full refund, as long as you haven't downloaded your documents.
And you don't leave empty-handed. You tell us where you live and we can put attorney contacts in your hands. Two places we point people to, plus one we don't have any relationship with at all:
The Personal Family Lawyer® directory: firms trained and held accountable to a defined planning process, searchable by state, by specialty (special needs, blended family, business), and by language.
The Christian Legal Society's attorney directory, if a shared faith matters to your family. Worth knowing what it is: a list of attorneys who've identified themselves as Christians. CLS says plainly that it hasn't independently verified their practice areas or qualifications. It's a values filter, not a vetting service. Do your own diligence on top of it.
And your state bar's lawyer referral service, which costs nothing and has coverage everywhere those two don't.
We don't take a referral fee from any attorney. If that ever changes, this page will say so.
One more thing you should know about the Personal Family Lawyer network. They publish an article called "How Cheap Legal Hurts Your Family." They're not wrong. For the family with the rental portfolio and the business, cheap legal absolutely hurts them. That's the same argument I'm making on this page, and it's exactly why I'm sending you there instead of selling you something.
We're writing all of this down publicly on our first day, before the refund has ever been tested. Not as a story about what we've already done. As the thing you get to hold us to.
Nothing here is legal advice, and I'm not your attorney. What's true for your family depends on your state and your situation. If you have questions specific to you and your family's actual situation, you need to consult a licensed attorney.
A Will and a Trust are not two sizes of the same thing
A Will and a Living Trust can both be parts of an estate plan, but they work differently. A Will records instructions that take effect through the estate-settlement process after death and can include nominations such as an Executor and, for parents, a Guardian. A Living Trust can hold assets during life and direct how properly funded Trust assets are managed and distributed.
The important distinction is that a Trust requires implementation beyond signing the document. Assets meant to be governed by the Trust generally have to be transferred or coordinated with it, and the right structure depends on the family's goals and state law.
That difference is a major reason Steward stops at foundational Will-based planning and makes an attorney handoff when the planning problem becomes more individualized.
The part people underestimate: implementation
A Living Trust is not finished simply because the document was signed. Assets intended to be controlled by the Trust generally have to be transferred, retitled, assigned, or otherwise coordinated with it. Real estate may require deed work. Financial institutions may have their own procedures. Business interests and beneficiary designations can require separate analysis.
Some online providers offer funding instructions or attorney support. The point is not that online Trusts are automatically bad. The point is that implementation matters just as much as document generation, and a family should know who is responsible for completing that work before buying the plan.
“Protecting my assets.” From what?
“Asset protection” is not one thing. A revocable Living Trust, an irrevocable Trust, liability planning, creditor planning, tax planning, Medicaid planning, and business-entity planning solve different problems under different rules. A family should not buy a Trust because the word “protection” sounds reassuring.
The useful question is specific: protection from probate administration, from estate tax, from a beneficiary's poor money management, from a future creditor, or from something else? Once the objective is clear, the right structure can be evaluated with the right professional.
There is no honest national percentage
There is no credible national study that tells us what percentage of American families “need” a Trust. Steward has internal judgments about where a straightforward Will-based plan fits, but we are not going to present an estimate as a measured fact.
The decision depends on the problem being solved: state probate rules, how assets are titled, whether property is owned in multiple states, business interests, special-needs planning, blended-family goals, tax exposure, privacy concerns, incapacity planning, and more. The American Bar Association's guidance is appropriately less dramatic: one size does not fit all when choosing between wills and revocable trusts.
That is the standard we want to use too. Define the problem first. Then choose the tool.
When we want an attorney involved
If your situation includes significant business interests, real property in multiple states, a special-needs beneficiary, material tax concerns, advanced asset-protection goals, complicated blended-family objectives, international assets, Medicaid or long-term-care planning, or other facts that require individualized legal judgment, we want an estate planning attorney involved.
That is not a downgrade from Steward. It is the point of the model. Software should be useful where the problem is appropriately standardized, and it should stop pretending when the problem is not.
If we learn that your situation is outside our scope, the right outcome may be to refund you and help you find qualified counsel rather than keep your money for a product that does not fit.
There is no one-size-fits-all
Estate planning choices depend on your state, your assets, your family structure, and what you are trying to accomplish. Trusts themselves come in different forms with very different legal and tax consequences. A revocable Living Trust is not interchangeable with an irrevocable Trust, a special-needs Trust, or business-succession planning.
That is why Steward's position is not “Trusts are bad.” It is “do not buy complexity before you understand the problem.” If the answer is genuinely complex, get someone who can look at the whole picture.
A note to the attorneys reading this
I'll say this plainly, because I'd want somebody to say it to me.
I'm not trying to compete for the client whose situation already calls for individualized estate planning: the rental portfolio, the operating business, the second marriage, the special-needs beneficiary, the multi-state property. That client should have counsel who can look at the full picture.
Steward is trying to serve an earlier stage: the family with a mortgage, young kids, no guardian nomination on paper, no powers of attorney, and no healthcare directive. Some of those families will stay straightforward. Others will build businesses, buy additional property, blend families, accumulate substantial assets, or develop planning needs that move beyond our scope.
When that happens, we want the handoff to be obvious rather than awkward. Call it a farm team if you want. I'd take that.
If there is a family who needs foundational documents now but is not yet ready for a more customized engagement, Steward can help them get organized and put the basics in place. When their facts call for individualized legal advice, we want them back in an attorney's office.
So why do we sell Wills online?
Because there is a meaningful category of foundational planning that can be completed through a guided, state-specific process when the user's situation fits the product's scope. A Will records choices about who should receive property, who should carry out the plan, and, for parents, who they want considered for guardianship. Powers of attorney and healthcare directives address separate decisions during life.
That does not make every estate simple, and it does not make individualized legal advice unnecessary. The American Bar Association describes estate planning as a process that can involve lawyers, accountants, financial planners, insurance advisors, bankers, and brokers. That broader professional role matters when the facts demand it.
Steward is built for families whose needs fit a foundational Will-based plan. One flat price: $199 for an individual, $299 for a married couple, with Free Updates for Life. No Living Trust product waiting behind the checkout flow. If you outgrow our scope, we want to say so clearly.
That's the whole position. If it costs us the sale, it costs us the sale.
One more time, because this page covers a lot of legal ground: none of it is legal advice, and I'm not your attorney. Trust law, probate, and tax rules vary by state and by situation. Before you act on anything here, talk to someone who can look at yours.
Start your Will today. About twenty minutes, one flat price, and no Living Trust upsell waiting at the end of it.
This article is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Estate planning laws vary by state and change over time. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, talk with a licensed attorney in your state.