Terms of Service
Last updated: June 27, 2023
1. Terms of Service
By using FreeWill’s Site and Services, you acknowledge (i) that you are at least 18 years of age and legally able to enter into a contract; and (ii) that you agree to follow and be bound by these Terms of Service, as well as all applicable laws and regulations. Please do not use this website if you do not agree with these Terms of Service. The materials contained in this website are protected by applicable copyright and trademark law.
As further explained in Section 10, by agreeing to these Terms of Service you agree that any dispute arising from the use of FreeWill Materials and Services will be decided in binding Arbitration, in accordance with the terms and conditions provided below. In no case will disputes be decided by any court, jury trials, or class action, other than the Arbitration tribunal hereby indicated in these Terms of Service, unless one of the exceptions apply.
The following meanings shall apply in these Terms of Service: “Site” refers to www.freewill.com and any other website made available by FreeWill. “Services” refers to the Site and all services, self-help documents, information, forms and templates provided by FreeWill. “FreeWill” refers to FreeWill Co. (the owner and operator of www.FreeWill.com) and our affiliates (including FreeWill Co.’s officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents and representatives). “You” and “your” refer to each customer, visitor or user of any Services. If you access or use the Services on behalf of a company, organization or other entity, or on behalf of another person, then (i) the terms “you” and “your” will also refer to that entity or person; (ii) you represent and warrant that you are an authorized representative of that entity or person, with authority to bind the entity or person to these Terms of Service; and (iii) you agree to these Terms of Service on that entity or person’s behalf.
2. Important Disclaimer
FREEWILL IS NOT A LAW FIRM, INVESTMENT ADVISORY FIRM, OR AN ACCOUNTING FIRM, AND DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY LEGAL, TAX OR ACCOUNTING ADVICE. FREEWILL PROVIDES ACCESS TO SOFTWARE AND SELF-HELP MATERIALS. ALTHOUGH FREEWILL STRIVES TO ENSURE THAT ITS AUTOMATED SERVICES ARE COMPLETE AND UP-TO-DATE, THEY ARE MEANT PURELY AS SELF-HELP FORMS. THE SERVICES ARE NOT SUBSTITUTES FOR THE ADVICE OF AN ATTORNEY, INVESTMENT ADVISOR OR ACCOUNTANT. NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP, OR OTHER SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, IS CREATED BETWEEN YOU AND FREEWILL OR ITS PARTNERS THROUGH THE USE OF FREEWILL. ANY AND ALL COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN YOU AND FREEWILL ARE PROTECTED BY OUR PRIVACY NOTICE BUT NOT BY ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE OR AS ATTORNEY WORK-PRODUCT. YOU SHOULD CONSULT YOUR OWN TAX, LEGAL AND ACCOUNTING ADVISORS BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY TRANSACTION.
FreeWill will not provide clarifications, advice, orientation, or opinions about the potential legal or tax issues, or other consequences arising from the execution of self-help documents and other materials made available through the Site (the “Materials”), or solutions for issues you may encounter in attempting to use the Materials. FreeWill will not review any part of your Materials for completeness, spelling, or internal consistency of identifiers (such as names and addresses). Likewise, FreeWill will not provide clarifications, advice, or opinions regarding your particular situation, or apply any legal, tax or accounting expertise tailored to your situation. FreeWill provides general information that is found in statutes and case law, which are fully available to the public. You acknowledge that such information will never be specific to a particular user’s situation or request and that FreeWill therefore does not engage in the practice of law or in the business of a law firm.
FreeWill strives to keep all Materials available through the Services – including any descriptions, information and other help resources – current and up-to-date. This, however, is not the same as personalized legal, tax or accounting advice. Furthermore, the law changes rapidly, varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be subject to varying interpretation by different courts. Therefore, if you want help understanding how the law applies to your particular circumstances or deciding which estate planning documents are best for you and your family, you should consider seeing a qualified attorney, investment advisor or accountant. Similarly, if you need legal advice for a specific problem, or if your specific circumstances are too complex to be addressed by our Services, you should consult a licensed attorney in the applicable jurisdiction.
The materials on the Site are provided “as is.” FreeWill and its partners make no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaim and negate all other warranties, including without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights. Any documents you make using the Services are yours, and it is your responsibility to be sure they reflect your intentions and are binding under applicable law. Further, neither FreeWill nor its partners warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on the Site or otherwise relating to such materials or on any sites linked to the Site. The foregoing disclaimers of warranties do not apply to North Carolina consumers.
3. Use License
By using its Services, FreeWill grants you a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not:
modify or copy the Materials;
use the Materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non-commercial);
attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on FreeWill’s Site;
remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the Materials; or
transfer the Materials to another person or “mirror” the Materials on any other server.
This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these Terms of Service and may be terminated by FreeWill at any time.
Furthermore, your use of the Services may require you to enter personal, confidential or proprietary information concerning a third party. You represent and warrant that you have (i) obtained all rights and permissions from any third party necessary to use the Services and to grant the rights to FreeWill to use such information in providing the Services; and (ii) that your use of any third party personal, confidential, or proprietary information does not and will not violate any privacy rights, intellectual property rights or any other rights of any third party.
4. Stock Liquidation Platform
The stock liquidation platform (the “Platform”) allows individuals to donate stock and other securities (“Stock Gifts”) to support their favorite charitable causes. All Stock Gifts donated through the Platform are legally received by FreeWill Impact Fund (EIN: 86-1218871), a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity, to provide users the ability to support various charitable organizations by facilitating the receipt and processing of Stock Gifts through the Platform. FreeWill Impact Fund has exclusive control over and ownership of any Stock Gifts, and all Stock Gifts are final and nonrefundable. Accordingly, FreeWill Impact Fund will issue a donation receipt to the donor of each Stock Gift (each, a “Donor”) and make any filings required by the IRS for recipients of charitable donations.
Under applicable U.S. federal tax law, donations of stock are considered donations of property. Stock Gifts to FreeWill Impact Fund are generally tax-deductible for U.S. donors. FreeWill and FreeWill Impact Fund cannot provide any tax or legal advice. Please consult your own tax advisor regarding any questions relating to the tax-deductibility of your Stock Gift.
FreeWill Impact Fund automatically liquidates Stock Gifts on an appropriate exchange market, as determined by FreeWill Impact Fund in its sole discretion, for U.S. dollars. If you are using the Platform to make a Stock Gift, you will be deemed to have recommended that FreeWill Impact Fund make a grant to the organization that you selected or that is pre-selected on the website or application you used to access the Platform (“Designated Charity”) in an amount equal to the net proceeds of your Stock Gift. Subject to a Designated Charity’s satisfaction of the Eligibility Requirements (described below), FreeWill Impact Fund will make a grant of the net proceeds of liquidated Stock Gifts (“Grants”) to the Designated Charity. The “net proceeds” of liquidated Stock Gifts are equal to the gross proceeds of the liquidated Stock Gift minus exchange fees, licensing fees and processing fees of up to 4.95% of the gross dollar proceeds of each liquidated Stock Gift (collectively, “Transaction Fees”). These Grant distributions are made by FreeWill Impact Fund twice per month pursuant to the grantmaking procedures outlined below.
In order for an organization to be included as a Designated Charity on the Platform and receive Grants from FreeWill Impact Fund, the organization will need to meet the following eligibility requirements: (i) be recognized by the IRS as exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; (ii) be classified as a public charity under Section 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code; (iii) be in good standing with applicable state and federal regulatory authorities; (iv) not promote, either directly or through its officers and directors, hate, violence, or racial intolerance; (v) not engage in money laundering or other illegal activities; and (vi) not be named on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control watch list (the “Eligibility Requirements”). FreeWill Impact Fund reserves the right to modify the Eligibility Requirements at any time.
While FreeWill Impact Fund will make every effort to respect donors’ preferences, FreeWill Impact Fund retains exclusive control over all donations made to FreeWill Impact Fund. If a Designated Charity fails to satisfy all of the above Eligibility Requirements, Grants that donors requested be made to an ineligible organization will be made to an alternative nonprofit organization that does satisfy the Eligibility Requirements. The selection of such alternative organizations will be made at FreeWill Impact Fund’s sole discretion, but FreeWill Impact Fund will strive to select organizations by whom gifts will be put to the highest value charitable use. Please note that FreeWill Impact Fund will not issue refunds to Donors, except in cases of fraud, as determined by FreeWill Impact Fund in its sole discretion.
No solicitation or endorsement. The Platform provides a selected list of Designated Charities to which you can request that your Stock Gifts go to support via a grant of the net proceeds of the Stock Gift. In some cases, we may also display an organization’s logos or provide additional information about that philanthropic organization, apart from the aggregated list. Be advised that the listing or display of a philanthropic/charitable organization on the Platform does not constitute a solicitation of donations; FreeWill does not engage in any solicitation activities on behalf of, or endorse, any of the philanthropic organizations that may be included on the Platform, nor does it consult on the solicitation of contributions, on behalf of any organization that may be included on the Platform.
The list of philanthropic/charitable organizations displayed on the Platform is provided as a convenience to you, and is not intended to constitute advice, endorsement or recommendations of any kind, and you assume the sole and complete responsibility to assess, review and verify the suitability of any Designated Charity that you select.
5. Liability Limitations
In no event, and to the maximum extent authorized by law, shall FreeWill, the nonprofit organizations it partners with, or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, direct, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use or inability to use the Materials on the Site, even if FreeWill or a FreeWill authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. This paragraph does not apply to North Carolina consumers. Furthermore, because some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential, punitive, or incidental damages, these limitations may not apply to you.
6. Revisions and Errata
The Materials appearing on FreeWill’s Site could include technical, typographical, or photographic errors. FreeWill does not warrant that any of the materials on www.freewill.com are accurate, complete, current, or comply with the laws of your local jurisdiction. FreeWill may make changes to the Materials contained on www.freewill.com at any time without notice. FreeWill does not, however, make any commitment to update the Materials.
7. Links
FreeWill has not reviewed all of the websites linked to its Site and is not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by FreeWill of the website to which the link leads. Use of any such linked website is at the user’s own risk.
8. Site Terms of Service Modification
FreeWill may revise these Terms of Service at any time without prior notice to you. Any changes to these Terms of Service will be reflected on this page and will become effective immediately upon posting. If we make significant changes to these Terms of Service, we will notify you of the changes, either by putting up a banner on FreeWill’s Site or, if you are a registered user, by email. By continuing to use FreeWill, you are agreeing to be bound by the then-current version of these Terms of Service. Please check the last updated date at the top of these Terms of Service to determine if there have been any changes since you have last reviewed these Terms of Service.
9. Notification Procedures
FreeWill may provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business-related purposes, to you via email notice or through conspicuous posting on the Site, as determined by FreeWill in our sole discretion. FreeWill shall not be responsible for any automatic filtering that you or your network provider may apply to email notifications we send to the email address you provide us.
Our offices are located at 2041 East St, PMB 615, Concord, CA 94520.
10. Dispute Resolution by Binding Arbitration
Please carefully read this part of the Terms of Service. It contains important information about how disputes, claims, and controversies in relation to the use of FreeWill’s Services shall be resolved. If you don’t understand the meaning or extent of this provision, you should seek the opinion of independent counsel.
It is our goal to resolve through negotiation any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or validity thereof, or to the use of FreeWill’s Services. In case we fail to reach a resolution of the dispute, claim or controversy, you and FreeWill agree to submit the dispute to binding arbitration, in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth below (the “Arbitration Agreement”).
Arbitration is a much less formal dispute resolution process in which no judge or juries will adjudicate or find the facts in dispute. Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator to give the final decision (technically called an “award”), has a much simpler discovery process, and is subject to very limited review by the courts. Additionally, arbitration awards are normally not appealable, and, therefore, it is normally a faster and less expensive method of dispute resolution.
Binding Arbitration and Rules: You and FreeWill agree that any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service or FreeWill’s Site, or the breach thereof, shall be settled by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in accordance with its Commercial Arbitration Rules and Consumer Arbitration Rules and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. You can find the AAA arbitration rules and forms on their website: consumer arbitration rules, commercial arbitration rules, and consumer filing forms. You can also call the AAA for further information at 1-800-778-7879. These Terms of Service may change the AAA rules expressly or by necessary implication. The Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation and applicability of this Arbitration Agreement. Further, You and FreeWill agree that the United Nations Convention on Contracts is excluded and not applicable to this relation.
Arbitration Initiation: The Party initiating the proceedings must provide a written notice to the other Party in accordance with the AAA rules and forms. You can find the AAA arbitration rules and forms on their website: consumer arbitration rules, commercial arbitration rules, and consumer filing forms. The written notice must be addressed to FreeWill Co., Attn: Legal Dep’t, 2041 East St, PMB 615, Concord, CA 94520.
Single Arbitrator: Claims shall be heard by a single arbitrator, unless both Parties expressly agree otherwise. The arbitrator will be selected by the Parties from the AAA’s roster of consumer dispute arbitrators, and if the Parties fail to agree on the arbitrator appointment the AAA rules will govern the arbitrator’s choice.
Venue: The place of arbitration shall be New York City, New York. Hearings will take place pursuant to the standard procedures of the Commercial Arbitration Rules that contemplate in-person hearings.
Arbitrator Limitations: To the maximum extent permitted by law and coherent to these Terms of Service: (i) the arbitrator will have no authority to award punitive or other damages not measured by the prevailing Party’s actual damages, except as may be required by statute; (ii) the arbitrator shall not award consequential damages in any arbitration initiated under this section; (iii) any award in an arbitration initiated under this clause shall be limited to monetary damages and shall include no injunction or direction to any party other than the direction to pay a monetary amount.
Class Action, Jury and Bench Trial Waiver: You and FreeWill hereby agree that in no circumstance any dispute, claim, or controversy between the Parties will be subject to a jury or bench trial in any court or tribunal. Both Parties, therefore, renounce the right to jury trial. Furthermore, You and FreeWill expressly waive any rights to join a class action, as a plaintiff or class member, and that unless both Parties expressly agree, the arbitrator will not be allowed to consolidate more than one person’s claims in the arbitration proceedings.
Fees: Each Party has the responsibility to pay the filing fees, administrative expenses and arbitrator fees in accordance with the effective AAA rules. If your claim for damages does not exceed $75,000, and is not ruled as frivolous or based on improper purpose (as set forth in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 11(b)) by the Arbitrator, FreeWill will pay all such fees.
Award: The award shall be rendered in accordance with the AAA rules timeframe. Any award: (i) will be limited to the Parties in the dispute; (ii) will not affect third parties; (iii) will include findings and conclusions; (iv) will not be appealable; (v) will be coherent to these Terms of Service. FreeWill waives the right to recover expenses and attorney fees if it prevails in the arbitration procedure.
Exceptions: You and FreeWill retain the rights to initiate proceedings in any court or tribunal in order to obtain injunctive or equitable relief to protect intellectual property rights, both actual and threatened violations. Further, each Party retains the right to initiate proceedings in small claims courts.
Miscellaneous: This Arbitration Agreement will be in full force and effect after the termination of these Terms of Service, meaning that it will continue to govern the dispute resolution for the Parties. Except as may be required by law, neither a Party nor an arbitrator may disclose the existence, content, or results of any arbitration without the prior written consent of both parties.
11. Governing Law
Any claim, dispute, or controversy relating to your use of FreeWill’s Site shall be governed by the Arbitration Agreement discussed in Section 10 above. If a judicial proceeding is commenced, the claim, dispute, or controversy shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and FreeWill agree that the United Nations Convention on Contracts is excluded and not applicable to this relation.
You specifically consent to personal jurisdiction in New York in connection with any dispute between you and FreeWill arising out of these Terms of Service or pertaining to FreeWill’s Site. You agree that the exclusive venue for any dispute between the parties will be in the state and federal courts in New York. The foregoing paragraph shall not apply to North Carolina consumers.
12. Consumer Satisfaction
Consumer satisfaction is very important to FreeWill. If you are unsatisfied with any part of your experience using FreeWill, please contact us at help@freewill.com.