- Farewill is a startup that allows you to write a legally-binding will online and get it approved by experts.
- Dan Garrett and Tom Rogers founded the London-based company in 2016.
- Farewill has successfully raised £8 million in funding from investors including JamJar, Transferwise, and DMG ventures.
About Farewill
Farewill was founded with the mission of changing the way the world deals with death. The founders, Dan Garett, who studied Global Innovation Design at RCA and Tom Rogers, a software engineer, set up the company in 2015. They aim to make the process of dealing with death fairer, simpler and cheaper. Fairwill has since become the biggest will writer in the UK. Their innovative distribution methods include partnering with companies around the UK to provide their will-writing service as an employee perk. Farewill also offers fixed-fee probate services and direct cremation as an alternative to expensive funeral costs. The London-based startup now has 52 employees, including 25 new hires in 2019 – a growth rate of 93%.
How Does It Work?
In the UK, wills are generally written by solicitors or will-writing firms in a slow, inconvenient and expensive process. Farewill provides services that allow you to write your own will online in as little as 15 minutes. Customers are not required to read pages of legal documents to work out what applies to them, but rather answer simple questions generated by Farewill’s technology. Users answers are collated to create the appropriate legal text, which is then checked by a specialist. You must then print the will and sign it in front of two witnesses to make it legally binding.
On the high street, will-writing tends to cost between £200 and £300, and you can pay anywhere from £850 up to £5000 with established firms. Farewill charges just £90 for its services, or £140 for couples. They also have an optional update service costing £10 a year. This allows you to make unlimited updates to your will, and is free for the first year. Farewill’s fixed-fee probate service starts at £595. While other online legal services have poor user experience and lack of support, Farewill provides phone lines open seven days a week and twelve hours a day.
Farewill also promises an alternative to hefty funeral costs, averaging at around £4,800 in the UK. The company focusses on the cremation only, so that they can provide a simple and affordable service at a starting cost of £980. This allows customers to plan their own memorial when and how they wish to do so. The direct cremation service covers everything from collecting the deceased to hand-delivering their ashes to relatives.
Farewill’s Success
Farewill has successfully raised £8 million in funding from JamJar, Augmentum Fintech, Tiny VC, Transferwise, Kindred Capital, DMG Ventures and SAATCHiNVEST. The founders of Zoopla and TransferWise also back Farewill.
The startup has been voted the UK’s best-rated death experts on Trustpilot – and won National Will Writing Firm of the Year 2019 at the British Wills and Probate awards. Farewill gives customers the option to support its charity partners by leaving a gift in their will, an effort which has helped raise over £200 million for charity.
For more information see: https://farewill.com/
