Estate Planning 101
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| My husband and I need to set up wills. I'm just trying to figure out the easiest and least expensive way to do this. Everything is pretty straightforward - we have two teenaged children an down our home. I know lots of people here use a lawyer for the whole process but just wondering how much of it we can do ourselves vs. a lawyer? At what point do you absolutely need a lawyer? I know there are lots of online programs and templates too. Has anyone set up their wills using those programs? TIA |
Anonymous
|
We used Nolo Willmaker after our son was born so we'd have something in place and I think it's perfectly adequate for a simple situation (no blended families, special needs, etc.), esp. with increases in the federal estate tax exemption (and repeal of MD's estate tax).
We did go to a lawyer later (when money and time were not quite so tight) and spend about $1000-1500 for professional wills, and I've also looked at my MIL's will which she had done by a small town lawyer. A lawyer will help with you with more personalized "what if" scenarios (esp. with regards to your children-- do you want them inheriting directly, or do you want the $ going to a trust, and if a trust then what guidelines should the trust have for disbursing $, etc.). At the end of the day I feel better having gone through that process with a lawyer, but at the same time when I compare my MIL's will (for adult children) with the Nolo will, they are pretty comparable. Even if you go with a lawyer I think it's useful to get the Nolo book because for $30 you will be much better informed about the whole process and options. I would however be careful about legalzoom-- partly because I think there is more room for error the way they are set up, and partly because their reputation doesn't seem as good. |
Anonymous
|
Also used WillMaker. It allows you to specify the same "'what if' scenarios (esp. with regards to your children-- do you want them inheriting directly, or do you want the $ going to a trust, and if a trust then what guidelines should the trust have for disbursing $, etc.)."
Do that right away. It's around $30-$40 and takes a couple hours tops. If later you want to discuss things with a lawyer, you can, but Willmaker will get things at least 95% done, and probably 100%. If the will isn't perfect there might be small problems; if you DON'T have a will there could be major problems. |
Anonymous
|
Thanks for the replies. I just had a very close relative pass away suddenly and it's what has me going - I can't believe we put it off for so long. It's just dumb!
|
Anonymous
Just want to say that if the will isn't "perfect" there could still be major problems, e.g. if it's not witnessed correctly and therefore invalid. |
Anonymous
| Prior to getting married and having kids I used LegalZoom to create a basic will since I had a decent amount of assets for a 20-something. After getting married DH & I used Legl Zoom again but, once we had kids we sat down with a lawyer. |
Anonymous
| Get SOMETHING in place NOW. It is a real mess to have to deal with an estate without a will; don't do add that to the burdens of people you love if something happens to you. So yes, do Nolo or LegalZoom or whatever -- something is absolutely better than nothing (but do be careful to follow the rules about witnesses and notarizing very closely, so that it's not all for nothing). Even if you think you need more sophisticated help from a lawyer, do that tomorrow -- do the quick will online today. |
Anonymous
| Be sure you also get durable medical powers of attorney at the same time. |
Anonymous
|
FWIW, OP, DH and I kept telling ourselves we'd do it on our own; he even bought a Suze Orman will kit online. But questions kept coming up and we were still not sure what we were going to do, and we procrastinated forever.
We finally bit the bullet and paid a lawyer $1500 for wills, trusts, durable POA's, living wills, and health care POA's. We got all our questions answered and it was done in just a couple of hours of our time, including signing, witnessing, etc. Plus the lawyer keeps a copy, so we can just tell people our lawyer's name without having to actually give them a copy of the will. We aren't flush with money, but it was worth it to name guardians and get it all on paper. |
Anonymous
| OK I'm curious about this all. DH and I are youngish with no kids. Is it a bad thing that we don't have a will? I figure if I die, it all goes to him and vice versa. If we both die, our parents would split it equally. |
Anonymous
| Bumping this thread to ask if anyone else have any insights on this. Is a lawyer really necessary or if you use the Willmaker software and make sure the documents are witnesses and notatized, is that adequate? |
Anonymous
I'm a lawyer and used to do wills pro bono for my low income clients. But I really felt I needed an expert lawyer to do my own will and am glad we did that. I think if you ask lawyers what they did, most will tell you they hired someone to do their wills. Also the bigger your estate the more you need a really good estate plan. Our lawyer did include in her package powers of attorney, living wills, hipaa releases, etc. Those I'm comfortable doing on my own, but not a full on estate plan. |
Anonymous
| I'm a lawyer and we used willmaker to cover us for a while. Eventually we went to a lawyer and the will now has trusts and elaborate plans for various contingent beneficiaries but I think if you don't have anything or if money is tight willmaker is perfectly adequate. |
Anonymous
| I'm a lawyer and did my own will using willmaker. I don't have any elaborate issues to deal with. Before kids, I didn't even have one because almost all my assets were either jointly held or had named beneficiaries. |
Anonymous
| Get a lawyer. Do permanent custody, temporary custody, power of attorney, health directives, and will. Each jurisdiction is different so you want to be careful. It cost us about $2500 from beginning to end. You owe it to your kids to get this right. |