“One of the benefits of having an attorney prepare your estate planning documents is that we can guide you through your situation and make suggestions as to how to put together a plan that will work for your family,” VanderVeen says. She also says it’s possible that without proper legal guidance you might unwittingly fail to dispose of your entire estate. VanderVeen, an Indiana-based elder law attorney. Something as simple as not signing the documents correctly could lead to future problems, says Jennifer L. Still, if you complete the process online, experts caution to be wary of legal issues that could arise. Most online services offer a simple will for about $100, Horton says, which he estimates is anywhere from one-fifth to one-fifteenth of the cost of an attorney-drafted will. You don’t have to wait for a meeting with a lawyer, and there are no legal fees, says David Horton, professor of law at the University of California, Davis, who specializes in wills and estate planning. The most obvious advantage of creating a will online is that it can be fast and won’t cost much. We also offer important information on how to prepare an advance health directive, which spells out your wishes for medical care at the end of your life, and a healthcare proxy, which allows you to appoint someone to make medical decisions on your behalf. adults don’t have an estate plan, and for the half who do, those documents are often out of date, says Cody Barbo, founder and CEO of Trust & Will.Ĭonsumer Reports spoke with several experts in estate law and executives from estate planning companies to find out how to navigate the process of writing an online will at such a trying and tricky time. If you die without a will, state laws will determine who gets what and where your kids will go. On the other hand, it can still be better to get started now making important, if difficult, decisions about guardianship for your children and how you’d like your assets divided, than to wait until it is too late. For example, it can be hard or impossible to access a notary or get witnesses to sign your will, if they are needed. Plus, because of stay-at-home orders in many cities and states across the U.S., the process of completing an online will may be complicated.
0 kommentar(er)
