Estate planning mistakes can turn out to be expensive than you ever thought. The amount you spend fixing the mistakes – that is if they can be fixed at all – is huge.
The situation is simple – when a person makes a mistake in planning their estate and get deceased later on, they won’t be there to sign a new document, leaving their beneficiaries in conflicts for years to come.
Many people have resorted to going online to come up with an estate plan using DIY software, ending up with mistakes that even the executor can’t handle. This leads to considerable attorney fees, conflicts among beneficiaries and delays in execution of the estate.
It becomes messy.
For many people, going the DIY route looks better than not having anything on paper at all, which means that many people only opt for this route just to try and convince them that they have something on paper.
Why is this so? We have many people out there that don’t know what the process entails, where to start, what to do and how to do it – they end up using automated software to come up with a document that isn’t legally binding. Others use this route to avoid the cost of coming up with a plan.
The good thing is that we have a middle ground where you can come up with a plan by yourself and involve your estate planning lawyer as well.
Working with a Lawyer
You need to understand that most of the plans are handled by software programs that guide you on what to do, the documents you need and so on.
However, you need to understand that when it comes to estate planning, one size doesn’t fit all. The size and type of estate that you own isn’t the same for someone else. This is why you need to meet with an expert that will assess your situation and advice you on what to do next.
One of the services that you miss when you take your plan online is the ability to discuss the situation with a legal expert who has the relevant experience in estate planning. The lawyer understands what you need because he has seen many plans in action and can predict what can go wrong beforehand.Some Situations don’t work with DIY
Even the people that tell you to go for this option will warn you that some situations don’t require DIY. For instance, if you run a multi-million dollar enterprise or you plan to set up a trust for a charity or a special needs child, DIY isn’t the way to go.
Other people begin the process using the software, and plan to finish it off with an attorney. This is a good idea, but you need to make sure you work with the right estate planning attorney to complete the process.Not all Online Documents are Legal
Many people believe that just because they can file their taxes online, then why not create estate plans as well?
This kind of reasoning might put you in problems. Studies show that many people don’t understand the right language to use in drafting their will, creating problems later on.
Well, online estate planning documents might help you save time, but just because you created these documents doesn’t mean that they will work when they need to. This is why it is prudent that you understand how the legal process works, and how it can affect what will happen when you aren’t there to make changes.
Worse still, these mistakes aren’t discovered until things have gone from bad to worse. The people you love – the ones you were trying to protect, will be the ones to spend more money cleaning up the mess you left behind.
Knowing that the plan you set in motion will fail is bad enough. But imagine how it feels to know that your estate is tied in conflict just because you didn’t take a few hours off your day to visit your estate planning attorney to draft the plan the right way – disheartening.
Such mistakes also happen when you decide to work with an attorney that isn’t trained to handle the unique estate planning needs of parents that have complicated investments or minors.Estate Planning Is More than Just Having a Will
Many people think that estate planning is all about crafting a will – but it is much more than this. For one, DIY kit won’t tell you all the other documents that you need. For instance, you need a Power of Attorney, trusts and living wills for the estate plan to be complete.
Conclusion
The easiest way to make your estate plan foolproof is to work with a qualified estate planning attorney. While DIY might sound like a bargain, the plan might end up being void, causing problems to your family.
