Last Will and Testament Creation Software?

-
JeffisOld

JeffisOld

Old, Ugly and generally Disagreeable!
Joined
Jul 2, 2017
Messages
3,377
Reaction score
3,991
Location
Sophia,NC
Has anyone looked into any of these products and found anything that was worth a damn?

I, along with several close family members are long overdue. I just hate the thought of giving $ to a frickin lawyer unless necessary.

I know will still need notarized and filed but I can do that.

Please let me know your thoughts please.
 
Several Years ago we did a Trust using Suzy Orman software. We lived in Colorado at the time . Since we now live in Arizona we thought maybe we had better update it and hired an Attorney who does nothing but trusts and wills and testaments. He reviewed it and said it was basically a good document but somewhat vague in some areas. We met with him and he started asking questions about things we had never considered and could be interpreted in different ways. For $ 500.00 he redid our Trust and made a book of instructions for the Executor of the Trust that spelled out every step to take once both of us were gone. I doubt there are many Attorney's that would do it for that much but this Guy worked out of his Home thus had little overhead to cover. We are totally comfortable with what he did .Something that important in my opinion and experience warrants spending the money and hiring an Attorney.
 
Anything that will eliminte lawyers....but wait, youd probably have to pay a lawyer to sign it and make the document legal Doh....
 
I'm also looking into the same thing as you are, as my will is so outdated, that i need to bring it up to date with my wishes, and desires, when i conk out.
But my attorney that did my will, and living trust, no longer practices law. He retired out of it.
Then i know another guy, that quit his law practice, so i have been looking on the internet if 'Legal Zoom' can be of help to me.
If you find out anything, update this posting of yours.
I would be interested too.
Jim V.
 
My cousin got one of those things, filled it out and had 3 witnesses sign it, with one of them being a notary that notarized it. It was pretty simple, as he only had one heir, who is his son. He died of a heart attack and his son was his executor. He is just a kid in his early 20's, so I went with him to the clerk of court to just be an older relative along for support. The lady there told him that even though his Dad had the best of intentions in being proactive with doing his will.....it pretty much wasn't worth the paper it was written on. It all worked out just like his Dad had planned, but he had a lot of hoops to jump thru first. Buyer beware with those Will kits is my 2 cents!
 
Wills are very state dependent. There are states that view a completely handwritten document on Big Chief notebook paper signed by the person creating the will (not even any witnesses) as a good and legal document. And then, depeding on the state the level of complexity goes up and up. Your first step should be to find out the requirements for your state. You can then determine if some software covers those requirements.
 
I think the lawyer is well worth the money. Good idea to do a living will as well, so your kids know what to do with you when your in a coma, or some other terminal condition, car accident on life support or whatever.
 
I had my attorney do mine recently. Pretty simple, as I have just the one kid, but way more things to think about than I would have thought of. Pretty simple, my son gets it all. But, heaven forbid, what if something happens to him? It goes to my three grandchildren, 1 of age and 2 minors. Who controls the minors part? Do I want my daughter in law to do that? I love her, and think she is the best thing that ever happened to my son, but probably not. In my opinion, this is one of those times hiring an attorney is money well spent.
For what it cost, it was well worth the peace of mind, knowing all the i's were dotted and t's crossed.
 
As much as I dislike lawyers, in this case they might be the lesser of two evils

Just pay them a little now to make sure everything else goes where you want it too
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top