Do It Yourself Wills

[storybookstory]

Has anyone used any online service or Willmaker Plus software to do your own will? What was your experience?

Thanks!

 

[8 Ears]

I think we used Suzie Orman and give it a , ofcourse we are not deceased yet so not sure how it will really work out

 

[DVC Sadie]

I think we used Suzie Orman and give it a , ofcourse we are not deceased yet so not sure how it will really work out

Thanks for the laugh!

We went to our accountant who referred us to an estate attorney. The estate attorney only charged us 150.00 plus he was able to work with our accountant to help our benificiaries pay the least amount of taxes that the law allows.

 

[LoriNSC]

Another vote for Suze Orman. We did ours 2 yrs. ago. It was very easy & we passed the program on to my mom & stepdad to do theirs.

 

[mommyofboys]

We used the Willmaker software. I thought it was very simple. It would ask you questions and you typed in your answer. The software put in in the correct format. I also like the software because it does temporary guardianship & healthcare authorizations. It has come in handy for us and my sister when we travel without our kids.

 

[Karlzmom]

Thanks for the laugh!

We went to our accountant who referred us to an estate attorney. The estate attorney only charged us 150.00 plus he was able to work with our accountant to help our benificiaries pay the least amount of taxes that the law allows.

Ah, a voice of reason! I can't believe that people will trust something as important as a will to a box program. Would someone use a computer program to perform surgery? How about just to fix their car? Re-pipe their house? When you consider all the potential problems a will can have, and the vast amounts of money that can be wasted probating a will I just don't get it. (Yes, I'm a lawyer. No, I don't do anything in the civil arena - instead I call a lawyer!)

 

[minkydog]

Ah, a voice of reason! I can't believe that people will trust something as important as a will to a box program. Would someone use a computer program to perform surgery? How about just to fix their car? Re-pipe their house? When you consider all the potential problems a will can have, and the vast amounts of money that can be wasted probating a will I just don't get it. (Yes, I'm a lawyer. No, I don't do anything in the civil arena - instead I call a lawyer!)

My father did one of those on-line wills. After his death, Brother & I took it to the attorney for interpretation. The attorney actually laughed out loud and shook his head--the will was invalid. Nothing was spelled out like it should have been but it was all we had. We were able to have the will qualified, with a lot of effort. What a mess!

First thing DH & I did after we got home from the funeral was visit an attorney who not only helped us devise our wills, but took care of our powers of attorney, guardians for our kids, and a setting up a special needs trust for our youngest son. It was well worth the peace of mind!

 

[Wendy*Darling]

Be sure to check with your employer to see if they have any arrangements with attorneys in your benefits package. DH's employer has an arrangement where they covered something like 2 hours of time with them and then a % of the time after that. That 2 hours was plenty for us to do our wills, a living will/DNR type stuff, paperwork for temporary power of attorney should either of us be incapacitated in some way etc.

That said, I think if your choices are no will or will from a box, then do the will from a box! My mother gave us this kit thing from Suze Orman for organizing all of your important paperwork. It is supposed to tell you what you absolutely need if you had 10 seconds to grab your important stuff and evacuate sort of thing. What paperwork is most important. It is very similar to this kit she does for QVC. In that kit was a CD that had all sorts of create your own document things that her lawyer put together. She gives you the permissions to make copies and share with friends too. My SIL did the will and living will stuff using it. What it kicked out is pretty much identical to what DH and I got from the lawyer. Most of the stuff that is different has to do with the fact that she is a single parent that doesn't own her own home etc. whereas we are married and do have assets like a home etc. so our situations are different. She works as a nurse with hospice. The son of one of her patients is a family law attny and offered to look it over for her. He told her it looked just fine and that he was actually more impressed with it than he had been with other do it yourself software stuff.

I do like that we had a chance to sit down with someone and talk through all the what ifs but if I just couldn't do that, I'd feel better having something in place. We need to review ours now that we have 3 kids. It was written when we just had 1. Though everything is worded to include future children I'd still feel better if we had him review it again. I need to remember to talk to DH about that...

 

[Karlzmom]

Be sure to check with your employer to see if they have any arrangements with attorneys in your benefits package. DH's employer has an arrangement where they covered something like 2 hours of time with them and then a % of the time after that. That 2 hours was plenty for us to do our wills, a living will/DNR type stuff, paperwork for temporary power of attorney should either of us be incapacitated in some way etc.

Great tip!

That said, I think if your choices are no will or will from a box, then do the will from a box! My mother gave us this kit thing from Suze Orman for organizing all of your important paperwork. It is supposed to tell you what you absolutely need if you had 10 seconds to grab your important stuff and evacuate sort of thing. What paperwork is most important. It is very similar to this kit she does for QVC. In that kit was a CD that had all sorts of create your own document things that her lawyer put together. She gives you the permissions to make copies and share with friends too. My SIL did the will and living will stuff using it. What it kicked out is pretty much identical to what DH and I got from the lawyer. Most of the stuff that is different has to do with the fact that she is a single parent that doesn't own her own home etc. whereas we are married and do have assets like a home etc. so our situations are different. She works as a nurse with hospice. The son of one of her patients is a family law attny and offered to look it over for her. He told her it looked just fine and that he was actually more impressed with it than he had been with other do it yourself software stuff.

not to quibble, but invalid can be as bad (or worse) than no will. At least with no will then it will all distribute per statute. However, Aunt Gertie will always know she was supposed to get the fishing waders, and now so-n-so didn't honor Dearly Departeds wishes.....etc, etc, etc.

Also, be aware that documents drawn up in one state may or may not be suitable in another (California is one of a number of states that has a whole body of law that is state statute specific, not common law), I can't imagine that you could ever satisfy all 50 & still have any real substance to the program...it would have to be incredibly generic, and even then I'm not sure it would all work out. I'm sure Suze's attorney is great, but is he licensed in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia? If not, how can he truly be competent as to all the nuances in the individual codes? Do you really want to be the person who finds out that he/she shouldn't have tried to practice in your jurisdiction?

I do like that we had a chance to sit down with someone and talk through all the what ifs but if I just couldn't do that, I'd feel better having something in place. We need to review ours now that we have 3 kids. It was written when we just had 1. Though everything is worded to include future children I'd still feel better if we had him review it again. I need to remember to talk to DH about that...

Another great point. A will does need to be reexamined periodically, if there are new children, or serious economic changes...though most attorneys will advise against naming specific gifts such as $5,000 to Bob, remainder to my wife, as the specific gift get taken from the estate 1st & while it may have been fine when the will was drafted and there was $50K in the estate, if the cows died and now there is only $7K, then you can see the intent of providing primarily for the wife would be lost. [sorry, couldn't help myself ]

 

[srwarden1928]

Be very careful. If they are not executed perfectly according to your state law, they will be invalid.

 

[Jeanne B]

My father did one of those on-line wills. After his death, Brother & I took it to the attorney for interpretation. The attorney actually laughed out loud and shook his head--the will was invalid. Nothing was spelled out like it should have been but it was all we had. We were able to have the will qualified, with a lot of effort. What a mess!

I don't listen to Dave Ramsey very often anymore but I was listening to his program the other day and he was adverstising some website where you could get a will for $15. Like most everything, I'm thinking "you get what you pay for" so I don't think I would trust a $15 will just because Dave Ramsey recommended the website and I was honestly kind of surprised that he was recommending such a thing (or maybe I wasn't, I get tired of all the advertising which is why I don't listen to him as often as I used to).

 

[Praying Colonel]

Be very careful. If they are not executed perfectly according to your state law, they will be invalid.

Excellent point. Even if the will software is up to date on your state's laws (big if), and even if the will software prepares a valid will that provides the estate plan you actually need (another big if), the will still has to be executed properly. It's a much more involved process than just having a document notarized.

 

[Chicago526]

I'm all for DIY for a lot of things in life. Estate planning is not one of them. It's just too important and by the time you (or more accuratly, your family as you'll be long gone!) discovers that there are problems, it's too late.

That reminds me, I need to call my friend and find out who she used for her and her husband's wills. DH and I need to do that still. No kids so there isn't a huge hurry, but you never know what will happen.

 

[DisneyKT]

Thanks for the laugh!

We went to our accountant who referred us to an estate attorney. The estate attorney only charged us 150.00 plus he was able to work with our accountant to help our beneficiaries pay the least amount of taxes that the law allows.

Wow that's cheap. My sister and my Bil just had there will done it cost $800.
My sister said the lawyer asked so many questions, plus some she didn't even think of.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Please listen to what the other posters have said about state laws. Some states have laws that are very different from others and these pre-packaged things will be invalid. Find a reasonably-priced attorney ($800 seems high for a simple will). Especially if you have children.

 

[irish_trip_mom]

We had our will done after we had kids for under $500. But recently, we visited an estate attorney who specializes in special needs. We need to have an iron clad will to protect our two sons who have autism. In order for them to receive any kind of government financial assistance, they can not have more than $2K in their names.

If you have any special circumstances, please see a qualified attorney to do your will. A good tax attorney will also help you to shelter as much money from the government so that your heirs will be able to use that money. We all think we don't have much, but we often have more in our estates than we realize.

 

[Aisling]

I thought a Will was as simple as writing down your wishes, and signing it with a Notary!

 

[pezheadmeg]

New York notary here. We have nothing to do with wills whatsoever. In New York, the will needs to be prepped by an lawyer.

Then again, legally New York is a backwards state that still tries sixteen year-olds as adults, and doesn't have a no-fault divorce law. I'm sure it's a conspiracy involving the state bar association.

 

[Inigo]

Then again, legally New York is a backwards state that still tries sixteen year-olds as adults, and doesn't have a no-fault divorce law. I'm sure it's a conspiracy involving the state bar association.

Just an FYI, just about every state allows juveniles to be tried as adults for certain crimes, or if the juvenile is beyond the rehabilitation that could be offered by the juvenile justice system.

In the past year, I had three juveniles waived to adult court after I made that recommendation to the prosecutor's office. My prosecutor agreed with the recommendation, and argued it to the judge, and got the juveniles waived.

I'm a juvenile probation officer. Some "kids" are not appropriate for the juvenile system, and ought to be waived to adult court.

 

[RitaE]

I think I've met a few lawyers where I'd be more comfortable with legalzoom.com than trusting them.

It really depends upon your circumstances. Most of the "major" do it yourself providers offer State Specific language and specific instructions regarding execution. What they do not offer is the ability to personalize or vary from their framework without possibly leading yourself into trouble.

You need to decide for yourself whether or not your needs are complicated enough to dictate. If you own a house, a couple bank accounts, and are leaving everything to one beneficiary, I think most of the diy options will be just fine if you follow their directions exactly. Beyond that, spend a couple hundred bucks and find a good expert.

Another thing whenever possible - for every account possible make sure you designate a Transfer On Death beneficiary outside of the Will. Most brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, many savings accounts and other funds allow this. On Fidelity, you can fill it out online and change it as often as you like without having to pay a lawyer to update.