Worcester & Middlesex County Estate Planning & Elder Law

The Perils of Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning

Your family and friends are important, and the transfer of wealth after you pass can be greatly simplified with an expert on your side.

Are you a tax law expert?

Tax law is one of the most complicated legal fields in the discipline. It really should be left to the professionals, especially when it involves significant amounts of your money.

That’s why it’s very important to take the time and spend the money to receive experienced and skillful legal advice, before you attempt to do estate and tax planning on your own.

Axcess News recently published an article, "The Very Real Dangers Of Doing Your Own Estate Planning." The article gives us some of the major issues that people experience when they try to do this type of thing on their own.

Those with simple estates don’t need a great deal of estate planning, but they still need some. This may include a will, healthcare directive, and a power of attorney. People try to create these documents on their own, searching online for a free template or a paid program. Many people who elect to go online to save money wind up spending more than they anticipated, or they end up with a defective estate plan that only creates more issues for their family once they’ve passed away. The web will might work out just perfectly for some, but others risk much more than they save.

A common issue is trying to determine if a simple estate plan will be enough for a person’s specific situation. Your situation can be complicated if your spouse has already passed, if you have children, if you own real estate, or if you’ve been divorced and remarried. If any of these apply, the best bet is to sit down with an experienced estate planning attorney. The free web solution just won’t cut it.

You may be in need of a trust. That’s a sophisticated task that definitely requires legal expertise, because a simple mistake can make the trust null and void. A qualified local estate planning attorney will understand the details of the law and your situation. He or she will guide you into making the right choices for you and your loved ones. If your do-it-yourself estate plan has an error or flaw, the legacy you wanted to leave to your family may be challenged in court.

Reference: Axcess News (August 2017) "The Very Real Dangers of Doing Your Own Estate Planning"

If you do have an estate worth millions of dollars, with your do-it-yourself estate plan, you risk losing a lot of money because of unnecessary taxation or simple mistakes. An established estate planning lawyer who practices in this area of law will know the tax laws and will suggest strategies that will save as much as possible. How much risk do you want to take? Let us help. Give us a call at (978) 342-1914 or visit us at www.dellamonaca.com. 

Is Writing Your Own Will a Piece of Cake?

Maybe you have seen those will-in-a-box kits. Maybe you have even considered picking one up. Think twice about that. While you can draft a will on your own, there are plenty of reasons why you may not want to go that route. Most people do it to save money, but they may overlook or forget to take care of some important details – details that may eventually cost them much more than the amount they could save.

The Meridian (MS) Star’s article, titled "Reasons not to write your own will," says that some of the big mistakes include these:

State law differences. Many online wills and trusts don’t apply state laws, just basic concepts. An estate planning attorney knows these state laws and can make sure your will or trust is legal.

Super software. There is some software and online forms that can help you draft a will, but there’s no guarantee the technology will ask specific, unique questions that an estate planning attorney might ask about your estate.

Earlier wills. Most wills have boilerplate language that will revoke a preceding will. If you write your will totally on your own, you may not realize that you need this clause.

Assumptions. What if you will property to your child and you outlive her? What if you will an asset to a friend, and that asset is gone when your will is executed? These are things to think about that most people writing a will haven’t considered.

Vagueness. Sometimes executors aren’t given enough power by the language of a will.

Reference: The Meridian (MS) Star (June 7, 2015) "Reasons not to write your own will"

Wills, trusts, and estate plans should be crafted with the help of an estate planning attorney. Don’t try this at home all alone! Give us a call at (978) 342-1914 or visit us at www.dellamonaca.com.