Giving Docs and Proof Partner to Digitize Estate Planning Agreements

$84 trillion in assets is set to change hands over the next 20 years through inheritance, according to estimates by the consulting firm Cerulli Associates. This generational shift in asset ownership has been dubbed the “Great Wealth Transfer.” Yet, a 2022 survey found that 67% of people in the U.S. have no estate plan at all. Online estate planning tools are now helping to ensure that more Americans can secure their legacy by creating an estate plan.

Estate planning has been slowly but surely moving to an online process for years. But, in almost every state, two witnesses are required to execute a will, which poses a roadblock for many people setting up estate plans. Signers have to arrange for a friend, neighbor or family member to be with them at the time of signing the agreement to serve as a witness. However, with Proof’s on-demand witness capability, executing these types of documents is now easy and seamless.

We’re proud to announce our new partnership with Giving Docs which enables their customers to create their legacy today – without the need to print out estate planning documents and chase down a notary and witnesses. Giving Docs customers can now notarize their documents online with notaries on the Proof platform, who can summon on-demand witnesses in a matter of seconds. 

Giving Docs is custom-built software that helps nonprofit organizations provide their donors with tools to plan meaningful legacies. Giving Docs partners with the nonprofit who then guides donors to complete estate plans which include planned gifts. By fully digitizing these processes, Giving Docs gives their nonprofit partners increased insight into finalized legacy gifts, and therefore future revenue. By making the whole estate planning and gifting process easy and painless, Giving Docs helps facilitate more completed gifts and drives more overall legacy revenue. Giving Docs nonprofit partners include some of the largest charities, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and religious groups in the U.S. Proof’s on-demand witness feature helps make that easy and convenient for Giving Docs’ users.

“With the launch of Proof’s on-demand witness capability, Giving Docs users can easily finalize their estate planning documents – from the comfort of their own home - leading to more estate plans completed. This was not possible before, because our users often had to chase down a notary and witness to complete their documents,” says Giving Docs co-founder Brantley Boyett.

About Giving Docs

Giving Docs helps nonprofit organizations accelerate their planned giving programs and helps individuals create meaningful legacies. With easy-to-use online estate planning tools empower nonprofits to transform intention into action, uncover new planned gifts and gain valuable insight into donor behavior. Using data-driven behavioral science research in partnership with Duke University’s Center for Advanced Hindsight, Giving Docs optimizes planned giving for our wide array of nonprofit partners. Learn more at www.givingdocs.com.

‍Proof’s network of on-demand notaries now have the flexibility to incorporate witnesses into transactions quickly and efficiently, regardless of location, relationship, or availability. Learn more about our recent launch of on-demand witness.