The Big Problem with Do It Yourself Wills

An estate planning attorney would much rather not see a family undergoing unnecessary stress and expenses. Do it yourself wills and on-line wills very often create problems for families, as reported in Next Avenue’s aptly-named article “The Problems With Do-It-Yourself Online Wills.”

The article reports that one DIY estate planning service had three different “packages” that consisted of the same document, just with different names. Those packages were also missing a key estate planning document that the average person would not know to ask about. Even attorneys who do not practice estate planning law, know to work with an estate planning attorney for their wills.

For those with complex financial and personal lives, a DIY service may not be able to address the estate planning issues. If you have over a certain level of assets, do you want to risk making a costly blunder that would easily be prevented by working with a skilled professional?

Think of it this way: there are some people who can have their taxes done online, because they receive simple tax forms from their employer. If there’s a mistake, the IRS sends a letter and they may have to pay a penalty or pay the taxes that were not paid properly. Simple, right?

If your estate plan doesn’t work, you’ll never know. However, your loved ones will, and they’ll be the ones to have to make things right.

Good estate planning is all about expressing our wishes. The documents that are prepared and the process of decisions about our wishes accomplish a number of tasks:

• Avoids court intervention in your family’s life,
• Reduces administrative confusion, and
• Reduces or eliminates unnecessary fees and delays.

The four basic planning documents are: a will, power of attorney for financial matters, an advance health care directive and if needed, a trust. If you expect to use any of these through a DIY website, expect to use a “fill in the blank” approach. Remember that every state has its own laws governing probate. Are you sure that the forms you are filling out are acceptable in your state?

Other DIY sites have some documents, but only if you purchase a high-end package. Others offer attorney consultations, but some consider an attorney consultation to be a series of questions and answers through an online app with pre-written responses, and not a real attorney.

The problem with DIY wills, is that we don’t know what we don’t know. We may know who we would like to receive our assets, but not what our state law requires to make that happen. Case law about estate distribution and probate is not something an average person knows. That’s why it makes more sense to speak with an experienced estate planning attorney. They will be able to create an estate plan based on knowledge and skills, that come about only after practicing in this area of law.

Reference: Next Avenue (March 29, 2019) “The Problems With Do-It-Yourself Online Wills.”