I hear this phrase a lot when meeting with parents for their initial appointment “I don’t know, what I don’t know”.
With sites like LegalZoom, BuildAWill, LegacyWriter, and more, the ability to create your Will has never been easier.
Or is it?
Think about the estate planning process being like a day rafting down a new stretch of river. Of course, you can read up about the river on your own. You can post your own questions online. You can even buy all of the equipment you think you will need.
But you are not traveling alone. Each family member in your boat has different needs, different capabilities, different interests and as a result different questions need to be asked and additional equipment might need to be included. I am an attorney, with a proven track record working with families such as your own and will know how to cater your personal experience to be as positive, informative and safe as possible. As your guide I will listen to your concerns, anticipate areas you may not have considered and put the correct gear in the boat helping to ensure that everyone has what they each need (whether adult or child) to feel comfortable, protected and educated.
An on-line Will template is not an attorney. The computer generated questionnaire cannot cannot give legal advice of any kind, cannot modify your answers in any way, cannot do any custom drafting that is responsive to your family’s particular set of facts, cannot think “outside the box”, cannot answer any questions and cannot suggest alternatives routes on the fly.
What on-line Will templates seem to want their customers to ignore, is the very simple fact that every family is special and unique. It is very important not to try acknowledge a family into a one-size-fits-all template document.
An attorney is crucial to the personalized and educated planning process. An estate planning attorney knows the questions to ask, and knows what to do wit