TotalLegal Review

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Best Membership Value

TotalLegal offers affordable estate planning legal documents a-la-carte or through a paid membership. Membership comes with unlimited documents along with several included and discounted attorney services. The site also stores any documents generated, making it easy to retrieve copies if something gets lost. For seniors who are just starting the estate planning process, TotalLegal has plans that can be purchased on a monthly or annual basis, allowing those on a budget several options to maximize their investment.

Pros and Cons of TotalLegal

Pros:

Membership includes access to an attorney with capped rates for legal advice
Unlimited documents with paid membership
Reasonable membership pricing

Cons:

Site has an outdated interface that feels clunky when navigating
Payment for individual documents requested after completion, making it a bit misleading
Limited set of estate planning documents

Overview of TotalLegal

Created as an extension of Pro Se Planning, Inc, TotalLegal was developed to provide everyone with access to high-quality legal tools and advice at an affordable rate. The service covers many elements of estate planning, along with several other legal situations, and offers individual documents for purchase or the option to enroll in a monthly or yearly legal plan that covers all document creation for the duration of the membership.

Estate Planning Documents

Access to an Attorney

Software or Online Service

Pricing Options

TotalLegal

Last will and testament, living wills, and power of attorney

Yes, with membership

Online service

-$9.99 per month membership -$89.88 annual membership -individual documents start at $14.99

How Much Does TotalLegal Charge for Elder Law Services?

Hiring an attorney to assist with estate planning can be expensive, with many attorneys charging $125 or more per hour. Seniors choosing TotalLegal services to complete their estate documents face individual document fees that range from $9.95 to $39.95 if purchased separately or membership fees of less than $10 per month for unlimited access to all legal documents. With the legal plan, members also have access to licensed attorneys at discounted rates and a variety of included legal services at no additional charge. The total cost for seniors purchasing documents individually depends on which documents they need. Legal plans run $89 per year or $9.95 monthly. Additional services, such as attorney assistance, could incur additional charges.

Eligibility, Plan Details and Other Information

TotalLegal offers a variety of common legal documents that users can complete and download at an affordable price. With documents that cover estate planning, business formation, real estate transactions and personal legal matters, TotalLegal lets seniors receive assistance in many areas of their lives without exceeding the limits of their budgets. The amount saved using TotalLegal depends on which purchase options are used and how much assistance is needed.

Individual Documents

TotalLegal has several legal documents that are available for purchase individually. The table below shows the prices for the estate documents seniors can complete and download.

Document

Price

Last Will and Testament

$19.95

Power of Attorney

$19.95

Living Will

$14.95

Medical Power of Attorney

$19.95

Other legal documents are available as well that are less relevant to estate planning. Once a document is purchased, users have 60 days to make any changes before it’s finalized. If changes need to be made beyond this point, a new document must be purchased.

TotalLegal Legal Plan

Although TotalLegal doesn’t offer any type of estate bundling, seniors have the option to subscribe to the site’s legal plan. This membership can be paid monthly or annually at a lower price. With enrollment in the legal plan, users and their qualifying family members have unlimited use of any legal document offered on the site. These documents can be completed and downloaded for free, or they can be printed and mailed to the user for the cost of shipping. The plan also comes with some free and discounted legal services from attorneys affiliated with Legal Club of America. Free services include:

Consultation
Document review
A will that’s updated annually
Service with small claims court
Assistance with government programs
Attorney calls
Attorney letters

Discounted services are offered at a flat rate. These services include:

Traffic defense – $89
Name change – $155
Simple will with trust – $250
Chapter 7 bankruptcy – $750
Simple divorce – $275
Regular incorporation – $295
Real estate closing – $250

For services beyond those listed, members have the option of speaking with a licensed attorney at their hourly rate. TotalLegal guarantees that attorney fees will either be listed below $125 per hour or will include a 40% discount on the regular rate.

Legal plan membership also comes with free online storage with the TotalLegal document vault service. It offers unlimited storage and download of completed documents and keeps them organized for easy identification when needed.

Additional Help

Along with the option to contact customer service for assistance, TotalLegal maintains a comprehensive library of articles covering relevant legal questions. Users can find out details about online document notarization, the differences between similar estate documents and other subjects that can help with the documents offered by TotalLegal. If users are unable to find answers to their questions here, the help desk offers answers to common questions about each estate document as well. If the user still has questions, they have the option of speaking with a licensed attorney if they’re legal plan members. Those who don’t have a membership can call customer service and speak with a representative, though they’re not attorneys and can’t offer legal advice.

Who Should Consider TotalLegal?

Seniors On a Budget

For seniors who only need a few estate documents, TotalLegal’s individual prices are reasonable. Those who need something more comprehensive and anticipate the need for legal help from a licensed attorney may find they can save money by signing up for a legal plan, which can reduce attorney charges.

Seniors With Simple Estates

Although TotalLegal has a good selection of estate documents to get seniors started, those who have complex estates aren’t likely to find everything they need with this service. Some additional help can be obtained through licensed attorneys by paying for a membership, but this may not be the best option for complicated estate planning.

Seniors Who Want Online Backups

Estate documents are important, so having extra copies in case one is damaged is a good idea. With a TotalLegal membership, all completed and in-progress documents are backed up and saved to the account.

What Are People Saying About TotalLegal?

Consumer reviews about TotalLegal are mostly positive. Many users have reported the service was easy to use and the pricing was affordable. Customer service seems to be responsive in most cases, although some customers reported difficulty in obtaining refunds. There were some complaints about being charged for services that could have been obtained free in the user’s state, but that seems to be more an error on the customer’s part than on TotalLegal.

In most cases, these reviews referenced LLC filing, however, and weren’t related to estate planning. Those who specifically used the service for their estates seemed to be satisfied with their results and were pleased with the ease of the process. Since state laws surrounding estate planning can change, a quick check on updated regulations can prevent some of the more common issues reported.