Online Wills? When You Should, When You Shouldn't, and Where to Do It

With all of the media about “digital wills” and “online estate planning” it could be tempting to think you can do your estate planning yourself, online. And, maybe you can. But, if you do, you need to know the potential pitfalls. Online estate planning could be a big trap for the unwary and actually leave your family worse off than if you had done nothing at all.

First and foremost, before you do any of your own online estate planning, it’s critical to understand your family dynamics, the nature of your assets, and what the state would say should happen to your assets if something happens to you. You see, whether or not you do estate planning, the state does have a plan for your assets if you become incapacitated or when you die. You need to know what that plan is, so you know whether or not you want to change it.

A good start on getting educated is this one hour training with estate planning attorney Ali Katz, which clarifies what you can and should do yourself, for free, online. The easy-to-watch training gives you access to a free online tool that you can use to create the one thing that would be most important for your family: a “treasure map” listing everything you own, where it is, and how your loved ones can access it. This tool is free to use, and creating your own personal resource map will be a valuable resource for the people you love.

Three Simple Mistakes That Can Derail Your Estate Plan

While it might seem simple enough to put together a trust online or have your tax attorney prepare your will, it can be very difficult to create an estate plan that works without the proper training and experience. What might seem like minor details to the inexperienced eye can often have major effects on your plan’s final outcome.

More often than not, clients who meet with us to review a DIY plan find out that instead of saving money on their estate plan, they’ve actually cost themselves much more by buying a plan that has mistakes or does not take tax consequences into account. And if these mistakes or tax consequences aren’t caught by you while you’re alive and well, your loved ones will be the ones paying the price to resolve them after you’re gone.

Here are the three biggest mistakes we see when reviewing DIY and low-cost estate plans:

Five Ways DIY Estate Plans Can Fail & Leave Your Family at Risk — Part 2

Without a thorough understanding of your family dynamics, the nature of your assets, and how the legal process works upon your death or incapacity, you are likely to make serious mistakes when creating a DIY estate plan. Even worse, these mistakes won’t be discovered until it’s too late — and the loved ones you were trying to protect will be the very ones forced to clean up your mess or get stuck in a costly and traumatic court process that can drag out for years.

Yesterday, in part one of this series, we covered the first two ways DIY estate plans can fail, and here, we’ll cover the remaining three.

Five Ways DIY Estate Plans Can Fail & Leave Your Family At Risk - Part 1

Do a Google search for “digital wills” or “online estate planning,” and you’ll find dozens of different websites offering low-cost, do-it-yourself (DIY) and sometimes even free estate planning documents, such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives.

From LegalZoom® and Rocket Lawyer® to TrustandWill.com and FreeWill.com, these DIY legal documents may seem like a cheap and easy way to finally cross estate planning off your to-do list — and do so without having to pay a lawyer big bucks to assist you. After all, you’ve been able to prepare and file your taxes online for years, is estate planning really that much different? And aren’t lawyers using the very same forms you find on these DIY document websites?

Estate PlanningStephen PennerApril 11, 2023DIY Estate Planning, Wills, Probate

Three Essential Questions To Ask Before Creating Your Will Online

If you are looking to create your last will and testament, or will, online, you’ll find dozens of websites that let you prepare a variety of estate planning documents for very little money, and even for free. With so many do-it-yourself online document services out there, you might believe you can create your will online, all on your own, without paying a lawyer to help.

And in some cases, you can create your will online.

But if you do, you need to understand how these services can backfire on you and your family. Online estate planning can be a catastrophe for those who aren’t aware of the risks. And as you’ll see, creating your will online without a lawyer’s guidance can even be worse for your family than if you’d done nothing at all.

Estate PlanningStephen PennerFebruary 15, 2023DIY Estate Planning, Wills, Probate

Consider This Before You Create a Will Online

A last will and testament is the most commonly thought-of document when it comes to an estate plan. But really it is only a very small part of an integrated plan that ensures your family stays out of court and out of conflict if and when something happens to you.

Do not think you can just write your own will and that will help your family.

You have probably seen ads from services that tout the idea that you can write your own will quickly — maybe even while you are in the security line at the airport (seriously, we have seen those ads in our own Facebook feeds).

Instead, consider the reality that trying to do so could actually create far more trouble for your loved ones down the road if you try to write your own will. Your family and loved ones need you to get professional support from someone who can help you look at what you own, who you love, and what would happen to you and everyone you love if and when something happens to you.

Estate PlanningStephen PennerFebruary 13, 2023DIY Estate Planning, Wills

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