One area you don’t want to D.I.Y. in your life is your Estate Plan… Sure D.I.Y. usually saves you money, but when it comes to estate planning this couldn’t be further from the truth! This week, let’s touch base on the dangers of conducting your estate plan yourself and a real-life situation my office encountered.
In this day and age estate planning has become increasingly more accessible, especially through the use of platforms like LegalZoom, TrustandWill, etc.
However, contrary to what they may advertise – these platforms can not give you legal advice.
In fact, many of these platforms advise their customers to review the documents prepared with THEIR service to an estate planning attorney ELSEWHERE, in order to review and finalize the author’s wishes.
Unfortunately, if this process is not properly conducted, it can result in lengthy probate or the nullification of the deceased wishes entirely.
For example, we recently had a potential client who was named as a beneficiary of a trust. Although the trust was properly executed by the trustee with notaries and witnesses, they had failed to fund their asset distribution and to include a Pour-Over Will.
These are essential documents that allow for your wishes to be fulfilled should something tragic occur. Without these documents, your wishes could be at stake! We hate to see this happen and don’t want it to happen to anyone else! We are on a mission to spread the word of the dangerous of D.I.Y. estate plans! Please do the loved ones in your life a favor and share this post.
If you happen to have D.I.Y. your own plan, not to worry! It is a good place to start and we can help make sure that all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed!
For any and all estate planning questions don’t be shy!
Contact us at [email protected]