Burlington, VERMONT and San Diego, CALIFORNIA, May 25, 2022 – Trust & Will, the leading digital estate planning platform, today announced the acquisition of EZ-Probate, the nation’s leading digital probate settlement provider. This acquisition will provide a more comprehensive estate planning experience for Trust & Will members, advisors, and partners by adding estate settlement and probate assistance benefits to the holistic portfolio of estate planning documents.
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EZ-Probate is an affordable and alternative approach to the traditional attorney probate process, helping families settle estates and navigate the probate legal procedure. Since its launch in 2016, EZ-Probate has resolved more than 3,500 cases and saved customers more than $30M in legal fees related to probate. On average, estates are settled within six months and for as little as $1999 using EZ-Probate’s service.
Probate is the legal process a person’s estate goes through after they pass away to distribute their assets to the proper heirs. There are estimated to be more than one million new probate cases in the U.S. each year. The average time to settle an estate using a traditional attorney takes up to 14 months and roughly $10,000 in legal fees.
This is Trust & Will’s first acquisition to support its mission to help every family leave their legacy, accelerating its increased focus on digital asset and estate management and wealth distribution.
“We are humbled to work directly alongside EZ-Probate, a brand and team that I’ve admired in the end-of-life planning space for years,” said Cody Barbo, Founder & CEO of Trust & Will. “By integrating EZ-Probate into our estate planning platform, we can better serve families with customized and affordable solutions to fit their needs and help build generational wealth.”
Both Trust & Will and EZ-Probate were created from their founders’ desires to modernize an antiquated industry that caused families financial and mental stress to carry out the wishes of their loved ones through estate planning and settlement.
EZ-Probate was founded by Byron Batres, CFP ®, who serves as the company’s CEO. He will transition into a new role at Trust & Will as General Manager of Probate.
“We are excited to join the growing Trust & Will team and help more families tackle the process of settling estates,” said Byron Batres, CEO of EZ-Probate. “I founded EZ-Probate after my own experience of acting as an executor for my family’s estate. Even with years as a Certified Financial Planner (TM) under my belt, I was extremely frustrated by the slow and expensive legal process. By merging with Trust & Will, we can help more families navigate the complex processes involved with estate settlement by providing much-needed access to affordable legal services that are a fraction of the cost of a typical attorney.”
The existing EZ-Probate team will be joining the newly formed Probate team within Trust & Will, bringing the company’s remote workforce to more than 90 employees across 19 states.
ABOUT TRUST & WILL
Trust & Will is a modern approach to digital estate planning, offering legally valid documents designed and approved by estate planning attorneys to adhere to individual state guidelines. Since 2017, more than 300,000 Trust & Will members have created an online estate plan to set up their family legacy. We make estate planning simple, affordable, and accessible by providing a secure way to set up a plan online in minutes, using bank-level encryption that protects customer data and complies with the highest security standards, including SOC2. Trust & Will is the official estate planning benefit provider for AARP members and is a proud partner of several leading financial institutions, including Northwestern Mutual and Haven Life. To learn more, visit trustandwill.com.
ABOUT EZ-PROBATE
EZ-Probate is the easiest and most cost-effective way to probate an estate in the U.S. Our proprietary software prepares ready-to-sign documents vetted by probate attorneys with easy-to-follow instructions, empowering customers to expedite the process conveniently, and either avoid probate or probate an estate on their own, significantly reducing costs, time and stress.
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