Sources & Methodology

“Settling an estate takes the average executor about 570 hours, spread over roughly 16 months.”

What it measures

Executor effort, averaged across U.S. estates settled through EstateExec — roughly 570 hours per estate, with about 80% of estates finished in under 800 hours and an average settlement time of almost 16 months. The figure covers all estates, organized or not — the source does not break out organized versus unorganized records, so we no longer phrase it that way. CarryOn’s premise is that organized records remove a share of that time.

Source

EstateExec, “General Statistics” (first nationwide statistics on after-death practices, 2018; page maintained since)

“76% of U.S. adults reported not having a will in a 2025 survey.”

What it measures

The share of U.S. adults who report they do not have a will — 24% said they had one in Caring.com’s 2025 survey, so 76% did not. It is a measure of missing wills, not of every kind of unpreparedness; some of those adults have other estate documents, and having a will does not by itself mean a family knows where things are.

Source

Caring.com, “2025 Wills and Estate Planning Survey”

“At any given time, over 300,000 Americans are in hospice.”

What it measures

A conservative point-in-time estimate. NHPCO reports about 1.7 million Medicare beneficiaries receive hospice care each year with an average length of stay near 90 days; that implies well over 300,000 people enrolled on any given day, before counting patients outside Medicare. It says nothing about how many of those families have a plan in place — so we don’t claim that.

Source

NHPCO (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization), “Facts and Figures” report

““39 families · 25 documents · 16 milestone messages · 449 checklist steps · 65 people invited” (the counts change as families use CarryOn).”

What it measures

Counted live from CarryOn’s production database and refreshed every ten minutes: estates created, documents in their vaults, milestone messages recorded, checklist items, and people invited. The counts include our own demonstration account — the one the product screenshots come from. Nothing is estimated, rounded up, or seeded; when the numbers are small it is because we are new.

Source

CarryOn production data, counted live

“One hour with an estate attorney typically runs $200–$400, up to $500 for complex matters.”

What it measures

Average hourly billing for estate-law attorneys in the United States, as reported in a 2025 billing-rate guide: $200–$400 nationally, with some attorneys charging up to $500 for complex matters. Rates vary widely by state and experience (the same guide cites $201 in Indiana and $448 in Washington, D.C.), and most firms now quote flat fees for standard documents — we use the hourly figure only as a point of comparison.

Source

LeanLaw, “The Complete Guide to Estate Law Billing Rates” (2025)