Let’s talk about being a responsible adult… 

Being a responsible adult means many things - including knowing where your most important papers are, ensuring they’re up to date and accessible by the people who matter. We know you’ve got a driver’s license, a passport, a letter of employment, and/or a mortgage agreement. But do you know where they are? When do they expire? We also know that ⅔ of Americans don’t have the documents they need to manage their affairs - because they don’t have a will or a trust, a power of attorney, or a healthcare directive.  So there are two problems: 1. Do you have the documents you need? And 2. Can you find them when you need them?   

If they can find them, most people are searching their Gmail or a neglected desk drawer - meaning that only they could find them when they’re needed (not by anyone else). And it’s not just estate documents that need to be stored and shared in a snart, safe, accessible way - it’s all of your documents. For managing camp and school applications, applying for jobs, applying for mortgages and insurance coverage, renewing ID… The list goes on. 

Introducing Duckpins

Duckpins is committed to revolutionizing the way people create and manage life’s most important documents. We're starting with a core set of foundational documents (traditionally thought of as estate planning requirements), but we'll expand from there soon to cover a broad set of legal and life documents and to act as your personal document vault. We give you the platform you need to manage the paper in your everyday life, along with the tools to create the documents you need and to share them with your trusted circle in case anything happens to you. 

For your Duckpins documents, we walk you through a simple, straightforward experience to gather the necessary information so that your documents match your circumstances. We generate complete documents and allow you to sign, witness and notarize them, all without leaving the Duckpins platform. We create a personal document vault for storing your documents and sharing them with your circle. We ensure those documents continue to reflect your needs and circumstances - whether they change due to a big move, marriage or divorce, new kids, kids becoming adults… whatever it might be, we’ll help you take it in stride. We’ll prompt you to update your documents when we know something has changed, but you’re also free to update your documents anytime! 

With Duckpins, when there’s a will, there’s a way.

Origin Story

Lauren Cappell, a former lawyer with a passion for enterprise tech, realized that her personal life lacked the enterprise tools she had available to her as an employee to bring order to the chaos. After having three young kids and experiencing 2 cross-country moves, she felt the pain of not having her paper trail documents organized. Sharing medical records, registering for schools and camps, managing employment and investment records, and keeping track of official records (passports, visas, and IDs) for her family felt like a mess.

When venture studio Jelly Collective presented the option of building out “Three Documents”, a new business anchored on estate planning documents, Lauren saw an opportunity to help others get their ducks in a row. She broadened the concept beyond document creation to encompass ongoing document management and to extend beyond estate planning.  

She named the new venture “Duckpins” - a play on old bowling pins that were shaped like ducks and, back in the day, needed to be reset by hand before each round of bowling.  Before you bowled, you had to “get your ducks in a row”.  She believes that by creating a simple, accessible and affordable way to draft the documents you need and manage all of your documents securely online, people would be empowered to “adult better” - for their own sake, for their parents sake, and for the sake of their children’s future.