Everplans Review: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Everplans

What Does Everplans Do?

Everplans is a digital vault for all of your important estate planning, legal, and financial information and documents. You can create a secure account on their website. Then, answer questions, upload documents, and fill in information to create your very own Everplan. What’s an Everplan? The company defines it as a “complete archive of everything your loved ones will need should something happen to you.”1

After using it firsthand, I can attest that they truly mean everything! From your will to online passwords to the account you use to pay your utility bill, your Everplan contains it all. You can even upload letters that you’ve written to loved ones. It’s a useful tool for any older adult who wants to make their estate plan (and more) readily available to their family.

Signing Up With Everplans

1. Visit the website and create an account

Everplans recently rolled out an iOS app, but new users must visit the Everplans website to create an account. Click on any of the “Sign Up” buttons you see on the homepage to sign up for a free account. While Everplans no longer offers a free trial, you can access the basic version of their plan, which is free. Then, you’ll be prompted to fill in your email address and create a password. Since you’ll be filling your Everplan with confidential information, it’s important to choose a unique password and not to share it with anyone.

2. Click on your confirmation email

After you create an account, Everplans will send you a confirmation email. You must click on the link in the confirmation email to continue the sign-up process. That link will bring you to a screen where you’ll fill in your name, date of birth, and preferred pronouns. I appreciated that I didn’t have to give my credit card info!

3. Answer questions to prepare your dashboard

Everplans documents checklist

Now it’s time to fill in the information you already have to begin creating your Everplan. Answer questions about your digital devices, home, employment and relationship status, dependents, pets, and insurance. You can also stipulate if you have a will, a power of attorney, an advance directive, financial planner, accountant, and/or attorney.

Everplans will ask you to list the most important person you trust – also called a deputy. Then, you’re given guidance on how to share your information with that person.

4. Check out your Everplans dashboard

Everplans dashboard

Everplans uses the information you provided to create your Everplan dashboard. Here, you can view suggested tasks like creating a Power of Attorney. You can also go through your Everplan section by section to add in any missing information as you create your digital estate plan.

Notable Everplans Features

Everplans provides a comprehensive way to prepare for the future. However, there are a few features that caught my eye as I tested out the site for this review.

Suggested Tasks

Everplans suggested tasks

At the top of your dashboard, Everplans displays a list of suggested tasks. Many of these tasks you may never have thought to do on your own. For example, writing out maintenance instructions for your car or listing all of your utilities and how you pay for them. Helpful hints like these will ensure your family has everything they need after you’re gone.

Learn and Create

Everplans helps you learn about and create estate planning documents that you’re missing. They partner with FreeWill to help you create your will and LegalNature to create a Power of Attorney. Everplans also lets you download an advance directive form for your state right from the dashboard. How simple is that?

Expiration and Renewal Reminders

Everplans reminders

You can opt into receiving reminders about important items in your vault. For example, Everplans can send you an email when your insurance policy is about to expire. I love this feature for older adults who have memory trouble or just want a few less things to keep track of.

Deputies

Everplans deputies

You can share your Everplan with one or more deputies. Who you choose, what they have access to, and when they have it is entirely up to you. For example, you could give your spouse full access to your Everplan immediately. Deputies will receive an email asking them to create their own Everplans deputy account.

The deputy feature is a big part of what makes Everplans so useful. Research has shown that many executors aren’t even sure where a will is located, not to mention where to find other important estate and financial documents. Everplans deputy feature guarantees that the right people gain access to the proper documents as soon as they’re needed, or even in advance.

Download a PDF

You can download your Everplan at any time, even with the free version, which I appreciate. If you decide Everplans doesn’t work for you, or your budget changes, you’d still have a copy of your Everplan. The PDF file contains all of the information you’ve filled in, along with a nifty table of contents for easy navigation!

Mobile App

Everplans iOS app

In December 2021, Everplans released the Everplans iOS app for iPhones on a rolling basis. It’s available right now to all users, whether or not they have an Everplans account. An Android app will likely follow.

The app can store images of your health insurance cards and other important documents that you may need on the go. Plus, you can adjust deputy permissions and view your existing Everplan.

How Much Does Everplans Cost?

Everplans costs $99.99 per year. This includes access to your Everplans dashboard either online or in the app. More specifically, Everplans advertises that your subscription includes:

• A digital vault to store your essential information
• Bank-level security
• Expert guidance, resources, suggestions, and more
• Upload and store up to 5 GB of documents
• Share your Everplan with as many trusted people (deputies) as you want
• Priority email support

Overall, I think Everplans offers excellent value. It’s a little cheaper than its closest competitors, too, which we’ll explore a little more below. Trying out Everplans also comes with minimal risk. You can sign up for the free version of their plan without ever giving out your credit card info. If you think it’s right for you or your family after testing it out, simply add your credit card and purchase the subscription.

How Secure Is Everplans?

Everplans prioritizes customer security and confidentiality. All data is encrypted using the most modern standards and bank-level security. And, the only people who can decrypt your data (and therefore see it and read it) are the people you choose to share it with. Everplans also complies with HIPAA – the same framework that protects your medical information at a doctor’s office.

You can also help keep your data safe by protecting access to your account. Everplans suggests that you:

• Choose a strong password
• Never share your password with anyone
• Enable two-factor authentication: When you sign in from a new device or browser, Everplans will text a unique code to your phone that you need to use when logging in.

For a complete look at Everplans security features, review the Everplans security page.

Comparing Everplans Competitors

Everplans isn’t the only company looking to help with end-of-life planning and organization. Others include My Life and Wishes, Cake, and Trustworthy. Let’s take a look at how Everplans compares.

Overall, Everplans fares well against its closest competitors. Plus, Everplans has the advantage of its new iOS app. My Life and Wishes wins for document storage but Everplans’ platform is more user-friendly and comprehensive, which I think is a major win considering how complicated end-of-life planning can be.

If you have a complicated estate or want to help your entire family stay organized, Trustworthy may be a better fit. Everplans accounts are just for single users who want to share their information with trusted deputies.

Final Thoughts on Everplans

Everplans is a unique and secure solution for organizing your important documents online. And, with a newly released iOS app, Everplans is becoming even more accessible to seniors with smartphones.

Trying Everplans is completely risk-free. That’s why I’d recommend it to any senior looking to organize their important financial and end-of-life documents. Even if you decide the yearly fee or online platform isn’t for you, you can still download a free PDF copy of your Everplan. And, at the very least, this service will help you consider tasks you may have overlooked, like noting where you store your passwords or what bank accounts you have.