Pitfalls in Do-it-Yourself Estate Planning
Pitfalls in Do-it-Yourself Estate PlanningWith be simple use of do-it-yourself wills both in print an internet-based, it’s tempting to think about skipping the costly procedure for employing a probate attorney and taking care of your estate planning needs yourself. It seems like a whole lot — grab a cheap do-it-yourself kit off the internet, spend a small amount of your own time, and save yourself a lot of money overall.
Unfortunately, there are lots of reasons why estate planning should always be done with the assistance of a professional probate lawyer. Although services of the attorney may appear expensive back then, they’re, generally, a respectable investment to generate.
One Size Fits All?
The 1st pitfall with DIY estate planning or will drafting kits is their one size fits all approach. Although this kind of method greatly simplifies the drafting process, in addition, it ensures that tailoring the resulting will on your individual needs might be difficult — or impossible. Generally speaking, the duty of estate planning is a lot more complicated than a lot of people realize; the typical man or woman today will have some of differing types and amounts of assets distributed over investments, banking accounts, property, trust funds, plus much more. Coping with and understanding what to do with these different properties is a thing which probate attorneys — but not average people — are taught to do.
Advice and Know-how
One other issue with over-the-counter estate planning kits may be the deficiency of personal advice and industry know-how. Though a kit may be able to walk you through the fundamental steps, it will never have the knowledge that the attorney would. A seasoned legal practitioner can do more than simply allow you to write a legitimate will; they might teach you methods to reduce the amount of taxes your heirs and beneficiaries have to pay, methods of avoiding costly probate paperwork and court proceedings, and explain the intricacies of using trust funds and exemptions inside your asset protection strategy.
Costly Mistakes
The most useful estate planning structures and techniques are heavily regulated by both state and federal law. In some cases, particularly if taxes could happen, precise wording and make use of of language is required to come up with a document valid. An easy kit cannot be sure that these exacting documents are drafted correctly; a mistake now could cost you or your heirs thousands of dollars in the foreseeable future. In fact, many individuals discover that, with a DIY estate planning kit, they spend more time and funds fixing their mistakes by using a lawyer compared to what they saved by using the kit to begin with.
