I’d like to talk a little bit about do-it-yourself wills., but not necessarily in the way that you might think. One thing that estate planning attorneys –especially those who blog and tweet– like to rail about are online and store bought do-it-yourself wills. LegalZoom is the enemy, and the lesser-known companies are even worse. I… Read More
The Wall Street Journal Totally Blows it on Online Wills
I can’t believe it. I have long admired the Wall Street Journal and considered them a paragon of straightforward and relatively high level journalism. Sure the editorial page leans conservative, and there has always been a general pro-corporate tinge to its stories. But I’ve always considered it more respectable than most other news sources. Not… Read More
HOW You Sign a Will Can Be Just as Important as What It Says
I have written in the past about the dangers of “do it yourself” wills. I have pointed out all of the traps for the unwary regarding Homestead, the Surviving Spouse, and Pretermitted Heirs. One thing I haven’t written about is the danger of improperly signing the document. If the proper procedure is not followed, it… Read More
Surge in Online Wills Possible — This is not a good thing
Professor Beyer over at the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog links to an article in L.A. Times titled, Wrangling over Michael Jackson’s Estate could revive sales of online wills. While it is a good thing for people who have no estate planning documents to take steps to get them done, an online will is not… Read More
My Internet Will/Trust Experiment Part 4: What type of Trust do I want?
I apologize for not updating this, my continuing series (and my blog in general) in which I order estate planning documents from an Internet document service. As I previously wrote, I attended the ABA Techshow in Chicago, and got sick when I came back. Between the late nights, and the Chicago cold, and the uncirculated… Read More
My Internet Will/Trust Experiment Part 3: I choose what Documents I want
This is the third article in a continuing series in which I order estate planning documents from an internet document service to see their quality. When we last left our hero, I had just clicked on the link from the main page that said “Wills and Living Trusts,” which took me to a page that… Read More
Internet Documents Update: I Received Emailed Copies of My Trust
This isn’t an “official” entry in my ongoing series, but just a quick update. Yesterday I emailed the internet document company asking about the status of my documents. Today I received an email telling me that, “as a courtesy” they are sending my PDF copies of my documents. So I have them. Still, I want… Read More
My Website Internet Will/Trust Experiment Part 2: Logging on
As I posted in my last post, I decided to go to an internet website that purports to provide wills and trusts (among other things), to see how good their service really is, and whether they are properly helping their customers. I will not say their name right now, except to say while their zip… Read More
A Website Internet Will/Trust Experiment Part 1: The Challenge.
I keep hearing from people what a great “deal” a certain internet website is. You just log on, type your information, and you can instantly get wills, trusts, corporations, trademarks, etc, just as good as one prepared by an Estate Planning or other Attorney for a lot less money. As I posted before, I believe… Read More
Be Careful of Store Bought “Fill in the Blank” Wills and Software
This post concerns what I see are the dangers of people buying fill in the blank Wills in stores, over the internet, or using consumer software. And I am going to admit right up front that I have a personal and financial bias. My job is to provide estate planning services, which may include wills,… Read More
