Do I Need a Lawyer to Make a Will?

[karenlynn]

Was wondering if a needed a lawyer or is there some type software program that I could use?

 

[1ke]

Giving legal advice is against forum rules.

Estate law varies by state. It is best to consult a lawyer in your state or a legal site like NOLO.com

 

[Boatswain2PA]

Short answer: No you don’t need a lawyer. Yes there are some online programs.

Long answer.

1: The state you live in already has a “will” for you (or anyone) who dies without one. It GENERALLY lays out that everything you have goes to your spouse, and then is divided equally by your children. If this is what you want, then you don’t really need a will. However, if you want your grandmother’s broach to go to a specific daughter, then you need to write that out.

2: A will can be as simple as a list of who you want to get what. But remember, the creditors (people you owe money to) will have a claim to your estate (the things you have left behind) and will need to be paid off.

1. If you write down this simple list, declare that it is your last living will and testament, then sign and date it, then you have a will.
2. The problem comes if someone hires a lawyer to contest your will. Then the more detailed your will becomes, the more likely it will stand up to a court contest. Of course, “the devil is in the details”, and that is when you may need an attorney to help you write out the details.
3. For example - If my wife and I were to both die then our estate goes into a trust for our adult/nearly adult children as we don’t think it would be beneficial to them to receive a large amount of inheritance as young adults (we don’t think they would be good stewards of the money)…so my SIL would be the trustee. Our wills defines how we want her to act as our trustee to care for the financial well being of our children. Then, at ages of 35, 40, and 45 our children would start getting their inheritance. We also have a moral turpitude clause so that, if the kids are being immoral at that age, they still get nothing. We don’t want our life’s work to go toward enabling our children’s drug use (for example).

So bottom line, for a simple will that details who you want to have what if/when you die, then no, you don’t really need a lawyer. But as the level of complexity increases, and the risk of someone contesting your will increases, then the need for an attorney increases as well.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[styrgwillidar]

As stated, giving legal advice is against forum rules. You need to find either a government agency or a free legal-aid service in your state. There could be specific rules, for example it may have to be written out entirely in long hand.

Seek legal advice from an appropriate source within your state.

 

[signit]

Agreed, you should get legal advice.

You don’t have to have a lawyer to make a will, but if you don’t, things can really go wrong.

For example:

2: A will can be as simple as a list of who you want to get what. But remember, the creditors (people you owe money to) will have a claim to your estate (the things you have left behind) and will need to be paid off.

1. If you write down this simple list, declare that it is your last living will and testament, then sign and date it, then you have a will.

That may or may not meet the requirements of a will in your state.

A family friend did something like this. It wasn’t valid, and as a result her substantial estate didn’t go to the person she wanted it to.

 

[runningdude]

I served as a witness to a neighbor’s will prepared by a local attorney. It is fairly painless and inexpensive (~$300). I would highly recommend it, especially if there are substantial assets.

The one time cost of a properly prepared will, compared to the risk of heartache and legal expenses to your loved ones should a poorly prepared one be challenged or overturned, I think, would be well worth the cost.

 

[JimG]

I served as a witness to a neighbor’s will prepared by a local attorney. It is fairly painless and inexpensive (~$300). I would highly recommend it, especially if there are substantial assets.

The one time cost of a properly prepared will, compared to the risk of heartache and legal expenses to your loved ones should a poorly prepared one be challenged or overturned, I think, would be well worth the cost.

Speaking of a witness, I will just mention what happened with the will of a relative of mine. He typed up his own will, jointly with his wife; both signed it and he had the signatures notarized. He did not use a lawyer. After he died I came across his homemade will, which in language was perfectly adequate for what he intended to do, but he had no witnesses sign the will. I took it to a lawyer, who confirmed that the will was legally invalid. Fortunately, the State’s legislation for the distribution of his property was the same as what his will intended, so it all worked out the same.

By the same token, he had also prepared, without legal help, a deed transferring his home from himself as sole owner to himself and wife as joint owners. But the deed was never recorded, nor was it in proper format. I took it to the register of deeds office, where a lady gave it curious look and asked, “Is this the first page?” I said that was the whole thing. But it was not recordable. Still our lawyer was able to get the property transferred anyway.

If one is going to prepare one’s own legal docments, it’s best to make sure that they are actually usable.

 

[whatsmyname]

I used LegalZoom as have a number of people I know. You do need to get two witnesses signatures on it once the paperwork arrives.

I do want to change my will and have looked into having an attorney write one. A previous poster mentioned paying around $300. I think that must vary by region because I can’t find anyone for less than $1000 for the most basic will and the most bargain basement attorney.

I have read that you can write your own will, but it must be in your own handwriting to be valid, not typed. I am not a lawyer and am only reporting what I’ve read on the internet so that may be completely inaccurate.

 

[edwest2]

Write down everything, who gets what, and take it to an attorney.

On two occasions, I have heard directly about what happens when there is no will and personal property and money are involved. Not good.

Best,
Ed

 

[runningdude]

I used LegalZoom as have a number of people I know. You do need to get two witnesses signatures on it once the paperwork arrives.

I do want to change my will and have looked into having an attorney write one. A previous poster mentioned paying around $300. I think that must vary by region because I can’t find anyone for less than $1000 for the most basic will and the most bargain basement attorney.

I have read that you can write your own will, but it must be in your own handwriting to be valid, not typed. I am not a lawyer and am only reporting what I’ve read on the internet so that may be completely inaccurate.

It is possible the $300 that was paid after the documents signed was was the final payment of an installment plan. But still, $1000, compared to the value of a home, is a small amount.

The vast majority of attorneys do not advertise, expect perhaps locally. Contact the Bar Association in your state, and they could direct you to an affordable attorney willing to work with you if the ordinary price is a burden.

 

[1ke]

Depending on the size of the estate, it may also pay to talk to an attorney about a trust versus a will + probate. Probate can really eat up an estate in some states, while in others it is very inexpensive and fast.

 

[Xantippe]

Speaking of a witness, I will just mention what happened with the will of a relative of mine. He typed up his own will, jointly with his wife; both signed it and he had the signatures notarized. He did not use a lawyer. After he died I came across his homemade will, which in language was perfectly adequate for what he intended to do, but he had no witnesses sign the will. I took it to a lawyer, who confirmed that the will was legally invalid. Fortunately, the State’s legislation for the distribution of his property was the same as what his will intended, so it all worked out the same.

By the same token, he had also prepared, without legal help, a deed transferring his home from himself as sole owner to himself and wife as joint owners. But the deed was never recorded, nor was it in proper format. I took it to the register of deeds office, where a lady gave it curious look and asked, “Is this the first page?” I said that was the whole thing. But it was not recordable. Still our lawyer was able to get the property transferred anyway.

If one is going to prepare one’s own legal docments, it’s best to make sure that they are actually usable.

This happened outside the US, but we had something similar happen in our family.

Grandma wrote up a home-brewed will leaving an apartment to her son and grandson. However, due to a series of unfortunate events, neither ever got a share of the apartment (as it was too little money to justify the effort involved in fighting it).

We have an internet will and have given copies to the relevant people (the prospective guardians of our children and the person who would manage our children’s money in the case of our untimely demise). I hope that’s good enough for the moment, but when it’s time to do a new will, we should probably use a lawyer.

 

[signit]

Repeating my suggestion to get legal advice and not to rely on any of us or on Internet sources.

I have read that you can write your own will, but it must be in your own handwriting to be valid, not typed. I am not a lawyer and am only reporting what I’ve read on the internet so that may be completely inaccurate.

This may or may not be the case depending on your state.

In the incident I referred to in my earlier post, the family friend did the entire will in her own handwriting, but it was still not valid because there were no witnesses.

 

[TomFromMD]

Was wondering if a needed a lawyer or is there some type software program that I could use?

We used Willmaker. You can get the current version for $37 on Amazon. If all you’re looking for is a basic will (e.g. here’s who I want to take care of the kids, here are my second choices, and the kids get everything except this, this, and this, that go to these people/organizations) it’s plenty. If you want to get super fancy and not have to worry about it being contested, you’ll probably have to shell out more for an actual lawyer. The other nice thing about software over a lawyer is if you want to make changes later, you don’t have to shell out more money. It’s already paid.

amazon.com/Quicken-Willmaker-Plus-2016-Software/dp/141332200X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457358865&sr=8-2&keywords=willmaker+plus

 

[JimG]

And sometimes a will is just a useless piece of paper. My father had a valid will prepared by a lawyer. All of his bank and savings accounts had one or more of his children as co-owners. The only thing that was not jointly owned was his home. As he got on in years, it occurred to me that it seemed unduly complicated to take the will to probate just for a not very valuable house. With the help of a lawyer at my work, I drew up a deed transferring the real estate from him to his kids, retaining however, a life estate to the party of the first part—i.e., him. When he died, all the accounts were pooled and split evenly, and the home was sold and the proceeds divided evenly, without ever probating the will.

 

[Xantippe]

And sometimes a will is just a useless piece of paper. My father had a valid will prepared by a lawyer. All of his bank and savings accounts had one or more of his children as co-owners. **The only thing that was not jointly owned was his home. As he got on in years, it occurred to me that it seemed unduly complicated to take the will to probate just for a not very valuable house. With the help of a lawyer at my work, I drew up a deed transferring the real estate from him to his kids, retaining however, a life estate to the party of the first part—i.e., him. ** When he died, all the accounts were pooled and split evenly, and the home was sold and the proceeds divided evenly, without ever probating the will.

Nooooooooo!

Don’t do that. It has potentially terrible tax implications.

Talk to an account first.

 

[JimG]

Nooooooooo!

Don’t do that. It has potentially terrible tax implications.

Talk to an account first.

Already done, years ago. We only did what a will would have done. The effect was the same.