Doing your own estate planning can be dangerous.
Are you an experienced estate planning attorney?
If yes, ignore this blog.
It does not apply to you.
If no, keep reading.
According to a recent Next Avenue titled “The Problems With Do-It-Yourself Online Wills,” doing your own estate planning is risky business (and we all know "Risky Business" is the domain of a younger Tom Cruise).
Those with no experience often turn to online DIY services for estate planning.
At least one of these programs had a number of typos and errors.
It also was missing essential documents or packaging the same documents as different plans.
Yikes!
If you were to use this program, would you know what was wrong?
Would you be blissfully unaware until it was too late?
Many who choose to do their own estate planning never know ... but their loved ones eventually will.
What if the site you are using has attorneys on staff?
Often these attorneys do not offer specific help on your personal documents.
If they do, it will often cost you significant fees.
Perhaps you are thinking, “But I do my own taxes and they turn out fine most of the time.”
They may.
If something goes wrong, you and the IRS get to find and fix this issue together.
In estate planning this is not the case.
If the government finds something wrong with your will, trust, or power of attorney, it is sorry Charlie.
You are either dead or incapacitated.
Either way, the both you and your plan will be powerless.
While you can use a DIY program to get a plan cheap and quick, you may actually be paying for nothing.
To avoid this, work with an experienced estate planning attorney to create a plan to meet your specific goals.
Your peace of mind and a successful estate plan is well worth seeking and paying for these services.
Reference: Next Avenue (March 29, 2019) “The Problems With Do-It-Yourself Online Wills”
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