Founders: Cody Barbo (CEO), Daniel Goldstein, Brian Lamb
Launched: 2017
Headquarters: San Diego, California
Funding: $52 million
Valuation: $200 million
Key technologies: N/A
Industry: Legal services
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0
An estimated $68 trillion in wealth will change hands from baby boomers to younger generations over the next couple of decades. Trusts and wills are crucial in ensuring inheritances pass down without getting stuck in probate, but the majority of Americans don't have a will.
One reason — other than not wanting to think about mortality — is lack of access. Hiring a lawyer is costly and time-consuming, and most Americans think they don't have enough assets to justify the expense. Online templates are available, but they aren't very customizable, which can leave some with more questions than answers, and may require additional steps to ensure they're legally binding.
Legal technology company Trust & Will aims to shake things up in this arcane industry and make estate planning more accessible to everyone. Relying on a mix of technology and human oversight, Trust & Will provides legally valid documents that adhere to state guidelines. As its name implies, Trust & Will focuses on estate planning. Its closest competitors, LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer, focus on a broader variety of services. There's also FreeWill.com, which offers free templates for people to fill out.
Trust & Will started when two friends wondered why there weren't more online options to create a will. Most of their financial lives were already online — banking, taxes, insurance — but wills would require thousands of dollars and talking to a lawyer. Or a barebones online template that doesn't leave room for customization or questions.
Today, the company says it has helped hundreds of thousands of families create estate plans and settle probate. In January, it received an undisclosed sum from Erie Strategic Venture, the venture capital arm of Erie Insurance, in partnership with Touchdown Ventures and some other investors. This was on the back of $15 million in funding from Amex Ventures, SEI Ventures, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and USAA in February 2023. In all, the company has raised more than $50 million.
The company works directly with individuals and through partnerships with financial institutions. In the past year, Trust & Will signed 66 new partnerships, including Bank of America, USAA and Navy Federal. To get the word out to the general public, the company hired its first celebrity brand ambassadors, Superbowl Champion Matthew Stafford and his wife, podcaster Kelly Stafford, to talk about their estate planning experience in a national TV commercial. It also became the official estate planning partner to two professional sports teams, the Los Angeles Kings and San Diego Wave.
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