When it comes to your Texas estate plan, you need to be mindful of the available choices. Many myths are floating around about wills and estates, which can lead people down the wrong path when it comes time to finalize their estate plans. One of these common false beliefs is that you can make your own will online.
The truth is, there are concrete things that you must include in a will to ensure it is legal. Different states have different requirements for wills, so something that may work in one state won’t necessarily work in another. Hence, it is vital to be careful with DIY wills bought online.
Estate Planning Myths
Not following the appropriate guidelines can lead to your estate plan being deemed “invalid” by the state. Some common myths need to be debunked for DIY wills to help you understand why it is so important to have an experienced attorney draft your will.
Myth 1: You Don’t Need a Lawyer to Draft a “DIY” Will Because It’s Just One Page Long
Truth: If you only need one page of instructions, creating your own will might save you some money. It is important to remember that a will must include more than one instruction. It has to include everything.
So, if you want to change or remove something, there needs to be a plan for doing so later on. That’s why every single estate-related detail needs to be included in the will.
Myth 2: You Should Use a Will That You Download from the Internet Because it’s Straightforward
Truth: Unfortunately, “free” usually isn’t free. Many websites charge fees for creating wills online, but there are far fewer fees associated with working with someone specializing in estate planning.
Plus, some of these websites use generic language and forms. While this might be okay for some purposes, it doesn’t work in every state and could mean that important details are left out.
Myth 3: You Don’t Need to Tell Anyone You’ve Drafted a “DIY” Will Because It’s Only a Single-Page Document
Truth: Although a one-page will will be easy to write, it is not necessarily easy to find. If you don’t tell anyone about your instructions, no one will know where to look if something happens to you. Hence, you should be careful with DIY wills bought online.
You need to make sure that your family knows what your wishes are regarding estate planning, including telling them where the instructions are located.
Myth 4: A DIY Will Doesn’t Cost Anything Because You Get to Skip the Lawyer’s Fee
Truth: This is another myth that pops up when people want something for free. While it may not cost any money directly, this approach could end up costing more later on if specific details are forgotten or inadequately addressed.
To get peace of mind, you need to know that your will protects your family and property; this means working with an experienced estate planning attorney.
Final Thoughts
Creating a “DIY” Will isn’t the best option when it comes to estate planning. It’s more cost-efficient (and less time-consuming) to work with someone who has experience in this area.
The expression “Do it Without anyone’s help” summons pictures of an end of the week excursion to the Home Depot, a swollen thumb, and the sensation of fulfillment that comes from a newly painted room, a fixed deck or a recently developed porch grower. In any case, even the specialists at DIY distributions, for example, This Old House much of the time remind us not to dive into projects in the area of specialists like handymen, circuit repairmen, backhoes and so forth. The outcomes there – a wrecked gas primary or electrical shocks – could have deplorable outcomes.
As of late, (“DIY”) suppliers have arisen in many fields going from personal assessment readiness to home arranging. These administrations imply to give, for minimal price, the capacity to create PC drafted archives that might bear a portion of the signs of expertly pre-arranged records. While these administrations give instruments to empower the DIY project, similarly as with the home improvement world, they ought to be utilized with alert.
The individuals who try to supplant appropriate proficient counsel with a DIY online archive in complex fields like domain arranging ought to comprehend the impacts of their activities. One should remember that even those with genuinely complex abilities really reconsider wandering past their specialized topic. Consider prominent Judge Rifkind’s perception regarding the matter of expense law that “following 50 years of training, I would no more have the dauntlessness to plan my own assessment form than I would take part in open heart surgery.”[1]
These worries provoked the American Bar Association Section of Real Property Trust and Estate Law (the “Part”) to assign this Task Force to assess the utilization of DIY strategies in home arranging. The Task Force has thought about various issues, including the justifications for why DIY choices might be insufficient or inadequate for some people. The Task Force is investigating a significant part of the analysis on DIY domain arranging and will distribute a more nitty gritty report later on. This Preliminary Commentary distinguishes a portion of the many concerns recognized by the Task Force.
