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Frequently Asked Questions

Have Questions? We Have Answers

Access to Giving Docs is sponsored by organizations such as nonprofits, alumni associations, and churches. The organization partners with Giving Docs and then provides access to the estate planning tools to their supporters. That means there is no cost for an individual to use the Giving Docs platform, if they have been invited to use the service by one of our partner organizations.

Giving Docs is only accessible to individuals when a nonprofit organization invites them to create an online estate plan.

No, users are not required to leave a gift to any organization in order to create a will or other estate document. And any provision is revocable.

Giving Docs has been built using behavioral science principles to make the process of estate planning as easy, efficient, and painless as possible. Most people complete their estate plan on Giving Docs in under 20 minutes, and find it to be a straightforward process. Helpful tips are embedded into the product flow as well, to support and provide individuals with additional context as they navigate Giving Docs.

If you already have a will and it is up to date, that’s great news. You can still make a charitable bequest by using a form called a Codicil. If you have a will and it needs to be updated or you’d like to start over, you may use Giving Docs to create a new one. You can then follow the instructions provided by Giving Docs to make your will official; or take your completed Giving Docs will to your lawyer as a worksheet if you have more advanced needs.

Giving Docs works closely with our partners to provide them any marketing copy that they need to promote Giving Docs. During our onboarding process, we work to assess what materials are needed and then create copy that reflects the organization’s voice and values. We continue to refine and generate new copy for the length of our partnership.

We believe online estate planning tools are most effective when an organization has a strong planned giving program in place and a wide donor pool to market to. We have seen the most success at a marketing list size of 10K or more.

Our pricing is based on the size of an organization’s planned giving marketing list. This price includes our entire suite of planned giving tools and can be marketed in a multitude of ways throughout the year.

Absolutely – our experienced team is here to help you wherever we can, and to provide you with recommendations on additional services and consultants who might be able to bolster or relaunch your planned giving program.

We believe we offer the best-in-class solution for planned giving teams. Here’s why:

  • We are custom built for and alongside planned giving leaders, and are uniquely designed to encourage legacy giving within the estate planning process.
  • Giving Docs cannot be accessed by individuals without an invitation from a nonprofit organization they already support. This leads to higher rates of estate planning and planned giving than organizations will find with consumer-facing online will builders.
  • Our pricing is all-inclusive; we do not charge separately for will building, estate planning, or gift planning tools. We also commit to no annual price increases, and often provide the most competitive pricepoint for most organizations.
  • We commit to the highest standards of privacy and security, and we also pledge to never, ever sell or rent any donor data.
  • We pride ourselves on the myriad partnerships and integrations we have with our planned giving marketing and nonprofit technology vendors- our job is to make it easier for our customers to work with any and all consultants or companies they choose to support them alongside Giving Docs.

Our Wills are legally valid in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Currently our Revocable Living Trust is only valid in California.

Yes, Giving Docs takes privacy and security very seriously. To read more, please visit our Privacy Policy and Security Policy.

Yes Giving Docs is purchased for an annual renewable subscription license, which empowers customers to use Giving Docs as much as possible each year with no restrictions.

It is a three-part process, performed by a Notary Public, that includes of vetting, certifying and record-keeping. This process is explained below by the National Notary Association:

  • The Notary’s screening of the signer for identity, volition and awareness is the first part of a notarization.
  • The second part is entering key details of the notarization in the Notary’s “journal of notarial acts.” Keeping such a chronological journal is a widely endorsed best practice, if not a requirement of law. Some states even require document signers to leave a signature and a thumbprint in the Notary’s journal.
  • The third part is completing a “notarial certificate” that states exactly what facts are being certified by the Notary in the notarization. Affixation of the Notary’s signature and seal of office on the certificate climaxes the notarization. The seal is the universally recognized symbol of the Notary office. Its presence gives a notarized document considerable weight in legal matters and renders it genuine on its face (i.e., prima facie evidence) in a court of law.

Your assets include the following:

  • Property, such as real estate, land, and buildings
  • Cash, including money in checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts
  • Intangible personal property, such as stocks, bonds, and other forms of business ownership, as well as intellectual property, royalties, patents, and copyrights, etc.
  • Valuable objects like cars, artwork, jewelry, and furniture, etc.
  • You may also include your “residuary estate” in a Will, which refers to any assets that are not specifically left to anyone. You can designate a “residuary beneficiary” who will inherit the remaining assets that are not left to other named beneficiaries.

You can NOT include the following in your will:

  • Any property that is held in joint tenancy (owned equally by two parties), such as a house that you own equally with your spouse. In many states the property will automatically transfer to the surviving owner.
  • Any Trusts, retirement plans, or insurance policies that clearly state a beneficiary
  • Stocks or bonds that are set to transfer to another party upon death (property for which a beneficiary has already been named)
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