13 Reasons to Avoid DIY Estate Planning for your Family
DIY Estate Planning
I’ve been faced with many Do-It-Yourself or Fill-in-the-Blanks estate planning documents recently. As an estate planning attorney, more often than not I am telling these families that the documents they have are not valid or that despite the documents in place, they have to go through the lengthy and often expensive process of probate for their loved ones.
Experienced estate planning attorneys do not create boilerplate wills or trusts. Instead, they can help you create a customized, individualized estate plan based on an in-depth discussion about your current financial situation, your future plans, and your intentions once you pass away.
In fact, many of the software packages and other do-it-yourself resources have a strong disclaimer that says they are not a substitute for legal advice and to consult an attorney for help in understanding how the law may apply to your particular situation. Using these can be a life saver in some situations, but you never know what lays on the other side of that situation. Many of them come with detailed instructions that families simply ignored to their detriment, and with no guidance leave the families worse off.
The 13 Reasons to Avoid DIY and Work with an Estate Planning Attorney
Of course, one would be skeptical if I said a do-it-yourself estate plan is “always” insufficient, but let’s be more specific. Do-it-yourself kits cannot adequately cover your needs if, for example:
1. You own real estate
2. You own a share in a small business
3. You wish to disinherit your spouse or child
4. You wish to leave money to your grandchildren but not your children
5. You are married and you and/or your spouse have children from a previous marriage
6. You wish to arrange long-term care for a disabled beneficiary
7. You have minor children
8. You have investments and retirement accounts, including an IRA or 401(k)
9. You’re worried about adult, but young or irresponsible, beneficiaries making foolish financial decisions with their inheritance
10. You have a potentially taxable estate
11. You would like to include creditor or divorce protection for your beneficiaries
12. You share property with someone who is not your husband, wife, or legal partner
13. You fear a challenge to your will
What can happen in situations like those listed above? In one instance, a stepmother used software to leave everything to her “children.” Unfortunately, the state law said she didn’t have any children because she had never legally adopted her stepchildren. As a result, it cost them $100,000 in legal fees to claim their inheritance.
How an Experienced Estate Planning Attorney can Help.
Protecting your family should be more than just an online search. The unintended consequences of DIY estate planning could leave your family in hot water - legally and emotionally.
A comprehensive and effective trust and/or will is based on asking all the right questions and taking your individual needs into account, something no software or form can do. How can you even know if you need a will or trust? There are substantial differences in those two tools and oftentimes a will and a trust need accompanying documents to make the plan work exactly and as effectively as you’d like for it to.
To speak with an experienced estate planning attorney and to learn how to have a free 90-minute FREE personal consultation, please contact the Deere Law Firm at (561) 515-4376 or visit www.deere-law.com.
Chioma Deere, Esq.
