Key Takeaways Wealth.com does not allow clients to properly fund their trust (source: Wealth.com...
With so many excellent software platforms offering estate analysis now, it's easy for analysis paralysis to set in. But, there are two estate analysis software vendors (operating under the broader estate planning software for advisors category) you should consider: Wealth.com and Luminary.
Firms typically use either software for estate analysis and modeling. But, some firms use Wealth.com or Luminary in combination with EncorEstate Plans for estate document creation and or estate plan funding.
When it comes to analyzing a client’s existing estate plan, modeling potential changes, and visualizing outcomes, both Wealth.com and Luminary shine, but in different ways: Luminary provides more granular and advanced modeling tools, whereas Wealth.com provides a solid visualization and basic modeling suitable for many client situations.
- If your client base includes a lot of high-complexity estates (e.g., multiple trusts, need for GST planning, advanced gifting strategies), Luminary’s detailed estate "what if” modeling and customization may serve you better. It's especially if you want best-of-breed in estate analysis, modeling, and visualization, and don't want to be locked into a "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" platform.
- If your focus is more on mainstream estate planning (e.g., wills, revocable trusts, beneficiary designations) with straightforward projections, Wealth.com’s scenario tools will cover your bases while also giving you integrated document creation.
If you had to pick one based on your needs, this guide will help you narrow it down to either Wealth.com or Luminary based on your specific use cases.
Wealth.com vs. Luminary: Features Compared
Both Wealth.com and Luminary have robust offerings. Both offer powerful options that help advisors and financial planners better serve their clients' estate analysis, modeling, and visualization needs.
Let's compare their top features :
- Wealth.com vs. Luminary: Which is Better?
- Comparison #1: Existing Estate Plan Summary and Analysis
- Comparison #2: Estate Plan Visualizations
- Comparison #3: Estate Plan Modeling
- Meet EncorEstate Plans: The Best Alternative to Wealth.com that Advisors Use with Luminary
Wealth.com vs. Luminary: Which is Better?
Both Wealth.com and Luminary will spare you from wrangling Excel, PowerPoint, and Canva, and will do the heavy lifting of analysis and turn it into visuals that clients actually understand.
Wealth.com focuses on end-to-end estate plan creation plus analysis, while Luminary focuses on deep analysis and “What if” insights for complex trusts and estates.
More specifically, Wealth.com pairs a modern, easy-to-use UI with AI-powered estate plan summaries and estate document drafting. Luminary specializes in detailed estate modeling and visualization, using AI to turn static legal documents into dynamic plans – a capability especially valuable for high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UNHW) clients.
Note: These data points are provided to the best of our knowledge and attempt to be fair in our assessment. There will be gaps and analysis that could be up for debate. This information should be validated with each company confirming the services they provide. We welcome feedback if there is information here that is not reflective of another firm's offering. Features continue to change as each firm continues to develop its offerings. This guide is an attempt to help clarify what is available within each platform and highlight the nuances among them
| Estate Planning Software for Advisors | ||
| Estate Analysis Capability | Wealth | Luminary |
| Existing plan summary and analysis | ✅ Yes – AI-powered estate plan summary extraction (Ester) converts legal docs into an outline/flowchart. | ✅ Yes – AI-driven data extraction turns uploaded documents into digital records and summaries |
| Interactive visual diagrams | ✅ Yes – Generates dynamic flowcharts of estate structures and beneficiary flows | ✅ Yes – Creates estate “waterfall” diagrams with adjustable assumptions and clear outcome charts |
| “What if” scenario modeling | ✅ Yes – Scenario Builder models tax and distribution outcomes of changes (e.g. gifts, term changes) vs. current plan | ✅ Yes – Hypothetical overlays allow side-by-side comparisons of proposed strategies (gifts, trust changes, etc.) in minutes |
| Estate tax & gift tax projections | ✅ Yes – Calculates projected estate/gift tax liability under current or proposed plans (built-in estate tax engine) | ✅ Yes – Automatically computes federal/state estate taxes and updates for different scenarios (with remaining exemption tracking) |
| Advanced strategy support | ⚠️ Partial – Can model basic gifting and changes, but complex strategies (GRATs, CLTs, etc.) may require workarounds or external calcs. | ✅ Yes – Built to illustrate advanced trust strategies (GRATs, SLATs, CRTs, etc.) and their outcomes for HNW/UHNW clients |
| Family tree & entity mapping | ✅ Yes – Maps family members and ownership in its visuals (e.g. who’s related to whom, who owns what) | ✅ Yes – Includes family diagrams and entity ownership maps to show structure of businesses or trusts |
| Quantify “tax alpha” (value-add) | ⚠️ Limited – Shows tax results of scenarios, but no dedicated feature to aggregate total tax saved by planning (advisor must infer from reports). | ✅ Yes – Highlights the dollar value of tax savings and wealth transferred in reports, to demonstrate planning impact to clients |
Sources:
Comparison #1: Existing Estate Plan Summary and Analysis
Wealth.com's AI-powered estate summary tool (named "Ester") extracts key details from uploaded documents and visualizes them quickly so advisors aren't manually combing through PDFs to create an estate summary diagram. In comparison, Luminary maps out an entire estate plan visually as a waterfall, showing how assets will flow to family, charities, and taxes under current assumptions.
In practice, both Wealth.com and Luminary allow you to import or input client financial data to drive the analysis. Wealth.com has a built-in balance sheet feature that aggregates all of the client’s assets and ownership across individuals, trusts, and entities. Luminary likewise creates a digital balance sheet by syncing with portfolio values (or via bulk data import) so it knows the values and registration of each asset.
This is critical for modeling, since an estate plan diagram is only truly useful if it’s tied to the actual assets and values in the estate. Once the data is in, each platform keeps that data connected to the estate plan structure for analysis, e.g., if you change an asset’s value or move it into a trust, the charts and tax calculations update accordingly.
Comparison #2: Estate Plan Visualizations
Wealth.com can generate flowcharts and summary reports that make it easier for clients (and their other advisors or attorneys) to grasp the key parts of an estate plan.
Luminary similarly focuses on clear visuals, offering not only waterfall charts but also things like family trees, beneficiary structure diagrams, and balance sheet illustrations that connect assets to the estate plan.
Comparison #3: Estate Plan Modeling
Wealth.com can also model tax implications and distributions based on a client’s current plan. More specifically, Wealth.com will visualize clients' estate plan structures (e.g., who inherits what, which trusts exist) and project gift and estate tax outcomes under various scenarios. For example, an advisor can input a proposed gift or change in a will, and Wealth.com will show the impact on the estate tax liability and the revised flow of assets, turning complex calculations into simple charts for clients.
Compared to Wealth.com, Luminary really emphasizes quantifying the value of planning; it will even calculate a metric for “tax alpha,” i.e., how much tax is saved by implementing certain strategies, and produce reports highlighting the dollar value of wealth transferred tax-efficiently.
With Luminary's waterfall estate plan visualization, advisors can then create “What if” estate planning scenarios for their HNW and UNHW clients. For example, “What if the client gifts $5M to a trust for their children next year?” or “What if we change the distribution terms of a dynasty trust?” Luminary lets you overlay these hypothetical changes in minutes, and instantly see side-by-side comparisons between the current plan and the proposed scenario. Luminary then automatically recalculates outcomes like projected estate tax due, how much each beneficiary would receive, and how long the assets might last, based on growth and time assumptions you can adjust
Luminary's level of modeling is highly customizable and supports advanced planning techniques (e.g., GRATs, SLATs, and charitable trusts) as part of its scenario comparisons (similar to Vanilla), which is a must-have for advisors servicing HNW and UNHW clients. In fact, Luminary allows you to tweak key variables (e.g., asset growth rates, future tax law changes, death ages, and remaining exemption amounts) and immediately updates the visuals and calculations. This can help advisors demonstrate the impact of their advice in concrete terms (for example, showing that a proposed plan might save $$2 million in estate taxes, which is a powerful motivator for clients)
Meet EncorEstate Plans: The Best Alternative to Wealth.com that Advisors Use with Luminary
While Wealth.com has solid estate analysis, modeling, and visualization capabilities, Luminary's same offerings are more customizable and go deeper than Wealth's.
Unlike Wealth.com, Luminary doesn't have estate document creation capabilities. But, many advisory firms who want granular, customizable estate analysis software – along with best-in-class customer support and truly white glove service in their estate planning software solution – leverage both Luminary and EncorEstate Plans.
Estate Document Creation Flexibility and Customization
In theory, many mass affluent clients have the same (if not similar) needs when it comes to estate planning. But, being able to customize estate documents to adapt them to your clients' needs is crucial, especially when it comes to beneficiaries. One-size-fits-all estate document templates clearly don't fit all!
Human Review of Every Estate Plan Document
Encore's team of estate planners and paralegals takes five business days (using a 60-point review of every estate plan) to comb through each estate plan and ensure everything is correct and accurately reflects your clients' wishes.
EncorEstate will also answer any and all of your questions about estate planning and or your clients' plans over live chat, phone, and or email at no cost (we don't provide legal advice). Encore's unlimited human estate planner support to advisors is why we consistently score the highest advisor satisfaction ratings in industry surveys like Kitces.com AdvisorTech and Advisor Productivity Surveys, and T3/Inside Information Advisor Technology Survey.
And according to a Reddit user on the CFP sub-Reddit, Encore's "Support is unmatched":
Estate Plan Notarization
EncorEstate provides a one-click option in its software platform to request a mobile notary and witnesses to be sent to your client's house for estate document signing.
Trust Funding
EncorEstate's full-service deed prep and recording ensures your clients' trusts are properly funded with their real estate. Encore's Support Team of estate planners and paralegals will pull the last recorded deed, prepare the deed, and prepare all county-specific documents – even if you’re not an Encore customer.
You nor your clients need to go to the assessor's office and or hunt down various forms because Encore will do it all for you and your clients.
FAQs
How valid are these feature comparisons?
We cross-referenced Wealth.com, Luminary, and EncorEstate Plans's websites to make sure the latest information was presented here in this comparison of Wealth.com and Luminary.
Is it common for advisory firms to use either Wealth.com or Luminary for estate analysis and a separate tool for etate document preparation?
Yes, many firms use Wealth.com or Luminary for estate analysis and modeling while also using EncorEstate Plans for estate document creation and or estate plan funding.
What's the best way to evaluate each estate planning platform for advisory firms?
As you read the "feature parade" as part of your evaluation of these tools for you and your firm, make sure to ask these questions during sales demos with Wealth.com, Luminary, and EncorEstate Plans:
- How would this tool fit our workflow?
- Can a member of the support team actually help me with my questions before I'm a customer?
- Does it cost me extra to contact support? And is the support staff primarily product support or actual estate planning support?
- Does it actually help me close the estate planning procrastination gap for my clients?
- Can it scale with our operations?
- Will I be able to keep and access my clients' data even when I'm no longer a customer of the tool?
If your answers lean towards making the estate planning experience for your clients not suck, and you want white glove support and estate plan document flexibility and customization along with robust estate analysis, well, you know where to find Encore and Luminary 😄
Get a personalized deep-dive of the Encore platform. We're not trying to win a feature checklist – we want you to kick all the estate planning butt.
What's the best way to evaluate the EncorEstate Plans platform?
if you're evaluating estate planning software providers, get a deep-dive demo of EncorEstate.
