Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Wills and Trusts: A Short-Sighted Option Riddled with Hidden Risks
Almost every adult has heard of a Will, which is a document that dictates what happens to your money and belongings after you die. You may even have a Will — or at least know you should get one. Maybe you’ve heard of a Trust and wondered what it is, how much it costs and how it works. You may have even done research on Google about how to do your own Will or Trust.
The internet is riddled with Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Wills and Trusts services. Legal Zoom, TrustandWill.com, and even media personalities offer low-cost DIY documents. You can even create your own Will or Trust for free by downloading a few forms. However, what these websites won’t do is explain the potential consequences of using one of their services and going down the path of estate planning without the right legal expertise.
Legal Documents Have Legal Consequences
Any legal documents, like Trusts and Wills, health care directives, guardianship documents, powers of attorney, and more are binding documents with legal consequences. They’re packed with legal language, and even if you think you understand the words, you likely don’t fully understand the nuances in the terminology and what it can mean when those words are applied to real life situations. There’s a reason lawyers complete college, graduate from law school, are required to pass a bar exam before they can practice and are even required to earn annual credits in legal education after they are lawyers. It takes time and effort to learn the law and understand how to interpret the legal terminology and keep up with the changes in the law. The potential consequences if something goes wrong pale in comparison to the amount of money saved when you patch together legal documents on your own.
Interestingly, many lawyers who don’t specialize in Wills and Trusts draft these legal documents for clients, friends and family members anyway. It is heartbreaking to see those documents fail after someone becomes incapacitated or dies. Even lawyers need specialized training on estate planning. Going to a lawyer who is a “friend” (but doesn’t regularly practice in estate planning) or drafting your own documents will save money, but it is shortsighted.
A Real-Life Cautionary Tale
Picture this. Jane passed away and her husband, John, went to his lawyer’s office to get legal advice on what to do next. Jane had already received an inheritance from her first husband. She was also close to her adult children and her grandchildren and wanted to make sure they received what was left of her inheritance from their father and grandfather. She intended to leave her second husband some money but made it very clear to him that she wanted to provide for her children and grandchildren first.
Jane was frugal and didn’t want to spend money on an attorney. So, she did some research, downloaded some forms, and wrote out her own documents. She did learn from Google that a Trust can keep her family from going through a court process called probate, which would save them money and leave more for them to inherit. She thought she’d achieve her goals and save money at the same time.
You probably see where this is going…
When John’s lawyer read Jane’s DIY Trust, they realized that what Jane actually did was leave her entire inheritance to her second husband. Legally, her adult children and grandchildren were to inherit nothing.
To further complicate things, Jane’s DIY Trust was subject to the laws of a different state than the one she lived in, muddying the waters even more. Obviously, Jane would not have wanted her estate to cause such a family-wide issue.
Despite drafting and filing a deed on her own, Jane also failed to transfer her house (and other assets) to the Trust altogether. She thought she was doing the right thing by handling her estate without a lawyer, but, not surprisingly, the family ended up in a lengthy and unnecessary legal dispute.
Don’t Make the Same Mistake
You may have heard well-meaning friends or family members may talk about how they did their own Will and Trust and it was “easy” or “not a big deal.” But do they truly understand the legal documents they drafted and signed?
Make sure you do estate planning right. Create a plan can accomplish your goals and keep your family out of court and conflict. Years of heartache and pain for family members after you pass is not worth saving money on what may be one of the most important investments of your life. Work with a lawyer whenever you’re dealing with any kind of legal document — and especially a Will or Trust.
A Better Approach
You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to take the time, make the investment, and handle your estate planning right. And make sure you’re working with a legal expert who will help you keep it up — and adjust your plan if needed — over time. Having your affairs buttoned up can be, truly, a final act of love.
At Centini Law, we are passionate about safeguarding your family through a one-to-one approach. We want to understand your specific family dynamics and goals and help you create a plan that ensures you and your loved ones avoid the stress, conflict, and chaos that comes from DIY documents.
I Can Help.
If you are trying to decide whether the many benefits of using trust-based estate planning will work for you and your family, set up an appointment with me. Let’s design a plan that will provide the maximum benefit for the people you love most while paying the least amount of taxes possible. We want every client to have the right solution in place and make sure it will work when it’s needed most.