How We Review
Every product and service GoodLeaving reviews is evaluated against the same criteria, using the same scoring system. This page explains how that works — so you can judge how much weight to give our ratings.
Our approach
The end-of-life planning category is poorly served by most consumer review sites. Products are often evaluated superficially, scores are inflated, and affiliate relationships go undisclosed. We built our review methodology to address those shortcomings directly.
Every GoodLeaving review is structured around five criteria that we believe matter most to the people likely to use the product. The criteria are weighted differently depending on what they are — ease of use counts for more than brand reputation, because ease of use is what determines whether someone actually completes the task.
We do not accept payment for reviews or for inclusion in comparison tables. Our scores are our honest assessment.
The scoring system
Each criterion is scored from 1.0 to 5.0 in increments of 0.5. The overall score is a weighted average of the five criteria scores, rounded to one decimal place.
A high overall score does not mean a product is right for everyone. Every review includes a “Best for / Not right for” section that explains specifically which situations the product suits — and which it doesn’t. We believe this is more useful than a score alone.
How we test
Where possible, we use products directly. For will-writing services this means going through the full process up to but not including signing — so we can evaluate the questions, the interface, the output, and the instructions provided. For password managers we test the emergency access workflow. For probate services we evaluate the intake process and documentation requirements.
Where direct testing is not practical or appropriate, we evaluate based on:
- Publicly available product documentation and terms
- Verified customer feedback from regulated review platforms
- Published pricing and feature comparisons
- Direct contact with the service’s support team to assess responsiveness
We note clearly in each review which approach we used and where our assessment is based on indirect evaluation.
Keeping reviews current
Pricing changes. Products update. Services improve or deteriorate. We review every published review on a rolling 6-month basis and update scores and content when material changes occur. Every review carries a “Last reviewed” date so you know how current the assessment is.
If you’ve used a service we’ve reviewed and your experience differs significantly from our assessment, we want to hear from you. Contact us at editorial@goodleaving.com.
Categories we currently review
- Will writing services — online and hybrid
- Password managers with estate planning features
- Probate services
- Funeral plan providers (coming soon)
- Lasting Power of Attorney services (coming soon)
We add new categories when we have sufficient knowledge to evaluate them properly and when they are directly relevant to our audience’s needs.
The five scoring criteria
All products in the will writing, probate, and estate planning categories are scored on these five dimensions. The same criteria apply consistently so scores are comparable across reviews in the same category.