A free online tool now answers one of the first questions families ask when they start estate planning: do we need a will or a living trust? The Memorial Merits Estate Readiness Tool returns a personal answer in a few minutes, and it shows the free path before any paid service.
The tool asks up to 25 questions about a family’s state, home, children, relationship, dependents and assets. It returns a readiness score and the specific documents that family needs: a will, a living trust or both. The tool also flags when a special needs trust is needed so an inheritance does not end a dependent’s SSI or Medicaid. It flags when an unmarried partner would inherit nothing by default under state intestacy laws, which generally recognize spouses and blood relatives, not partners.
The tool estimates what probate could cost in the reader’s state. It uses California’s fee formula set by law where it applies and the commonly cited range of 3 to 7 percent of the gross estate elsewhere. It notes that probate commonly takes 9 to 24 months.
“A living trust only avoids probate for the property you actually move into it. Signing the trust is half the job. The house deed and the accounts have to be put in the trust’s name, or the family can still end up in probate court,” said Gabriel Killian, founder of Memorial Merits.
It checks whether a family can get a will at no extra cost, such as one included with a life insurance policy they already need, before it points to any paid service. Seven of the top ten Google results for “will vs trust” on September 25, 2026 were published by insurers, banks, a credit union, a legal services company or a law firm.
Privacy is built in. The tool needs no account. Nothing a reader enters is saved, and the full report downloads as a PDF. A reader who wants a copy by email can ask for one. Nothing is sent otherwise.
Gabriel Killian, a Navy veteran, founded Memorial Merits after his father, Monte, passed away from complications following triple bypass surgery while Gabriel was at sea. Gabriel has also survived a deep vein thrombosis, a serious blood clot. Medical staff told him, “You could go to sleep and never wake up.” From that point he treated his own estate planning with real urgency and made sure every piece of it was complete. He built the site to give families plain answers on costs, rights and paperwork after a death, in one place and free to use.
Memorial Merits is a free platform for end-of-life planning based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It helps families understand the costs, rules and paperwork of end-of-life planning and the months after a death, in plain language. Its resources include funeral and cremation cost guides, funeral home directories for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., estate and probate guides, free planning tools and calculators, free downloadable workbooks, and Solace, an AI companion for families. It also publishes the Legacy Journal books.
He built the Estate Readiness Tool in July 2026. In September 2026 he rebuilt it so families can email themselves the full report, and he added funeral cost planning, life insurance, online accounts and state legal forms to the report.
“Memorial Merits is a free platform that helps families understand the costs, rules and paperwork of end-of-life planning and the months after a death, in plain language. Will or trust is one of the first questions people ask when they start planning, and a clear answer is hard to get without paying for one. I built the Estate Readiness Tool so anyone can get that answer free in a few minutes. It asks about your home, your children, your partner and what you own, then shows which documents your family needs, what probate could cost in your state if nothing is in place, and the free options before any paid one. Nothing you enter is saved unless you ask us to email you the report. And any estate attorney, funeral home or church can put a free version of the tool on its own website,” said Gabriel Killian, founder of Memorial Merits.
The tool has been free to use since July 2026 and covers all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Any estate attorney, financial advisor, funeral home, church or community group can add a free version of the tool to a site by pasting one line of code, in burgundy, charcoal or navy. Visitors on those sites get the same plain answer and can email the result to themselves.
The tool serves adults who want to put an estate plan in place and do not know where to start: parents of children under 18, homeowners, unmarried couples who share a home or finances, and families caring for a dependent with a disability. It also serves adult children helping an aging parent get documents in order. Estate attorneys, financial advisors, funeral homes, churches and community groups use it as well.
Memorial Merits works with more than 45 vetted partner companies across funeral, cremation, estate planning and legal services. It is a directory member of the National Home Funeral Alliance and has been published in Animal Hospice Group. Killian is the author of three books, including “How to Legacy Journal,” which ranked #1 in Amazon’s journal writing category, and the legacy journal “Should Tomorrow Never Come.”
