Robert Ambrogi Blog
Just 10 months after it launched, Estate Map is closing down. As I described in my review of it last August, Estate Map is a cloud-based tool for estate planning lawyers and their clients. For lawyers, it simplifies client intake and communications. For clients, it provides a portal where they provide information about themselves and where they store important documents and digital assets.
Last night, Estate Map founder Joe Henderson, a Minneapolis estate planning lawyer, send an email to subscribers announcing that Estate Map would be closing down by the end of May.
Estate Map was born out of a desire to help people. While we’ve been achieving that goal, we’ve come to recognize that the strategy of offering it through attorneys is not the most effective. For better or worse, lawyers are not the market that will help this concept catch fire.
In Estate Map’s place, Henderson plans to launch a new site, Navigatr, to be marketed directly to consumers, rather than lawyers. The site will give consumers a secure place to collect, store, and share important information on their own. “Think of it as the spirited and independent child of Estate Map,” Henderson wrote. “Basic Navigatr accounts will be available to everyone for free while premium upgrades will be available at a reasonable cost.”
Current Estate Map subscribers have until the end of May to download or print information stored in their accounts. As of June 1, Estate Map accounts will no longer be accessible.
Current subscribers who contact Henderson by June 1 (info@navigatr.com) will be given a free five-year premium subscription to Navigatr, Henderson said. Those who paid for their subscriptions will receive either a complete refund or 10 five-year premium Navigatr subscriptions.