DO YOU NEED AN ATTORNEY TO HELP YOU?

It is certainly best to engage an attorney to help articulate and implement your plans, including the drafting of appropriate documents.  In almost all cases, it is a good idea to at least consult with a lawyer at some point, even if only to review the plan and documents you might have prepared for yourself.

Most people do not know exactly how to put into legal effect the general desires that seem so very clear and uncomplicated in their own minds.  Often, when laymen draft legal documents, they employ language that might, indeed, be clear to them, but ambiguous to others.  Unfortunately, people tend to ignore (or be unaware of) limitations in their knowledge, and make financial and estate planning decisions in spite of it.  Experience shows that many bitter moments occur in the probate courtroom among members of the same family engaged in a battle that could have been avoided with a little help.

This is not to say that all "do-it-yourselfers" are doomed to failure, especially if their situations are truly uncomplicated.  Often, however, they fail to consider better options, tax pitfalls, related issues, etc.  This, as opposed to total disaster, is the more likely danger to the "do-it-yourselfer," and the consequences vary from barely significant to very much so.

Will and trust preparation software can, in many but by no means all situations, produce quite adequate results. This type of software, however, often does not fully deal with particular details, contingencies and very specific issues that might be important to a given family.  If your circumstances have any kind of "twist" to them--and most people's do--there is no good substitute for individualized, professional guidance.  Some people use these programs just to learn what these documents look like and to "get something on paper" before consulting a lawyer. This is an excellent idea, and these software products also offer quite a few educational tips and help screens.

The person who makes the estate plan is never there to see how well it works.  Everything that can be done needs to be done before death. Now let's review what we have learned.