January 24, 2022
Do It Yourself Wills and Estates
Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning and Issues
Estate Planning may just seem like creating forms and getting them notarized or executed, but a lot more goes into the creation of a will, trust, or guardianship agreement. There are nuances in the law. There are tax things to worry about. It’s just not as Cut and Dry as one would expect.
Here are some issues with do-it-yourself that estate planning attorneys regularly see:
What do you need to ask?. If you’re trying to complete a specific form, you may be able to do it on your own. However, the challenge is sometimes not knowing what to ask. If you want a more comprehensive end-of-life plan and aren’t sure about what you need in addition to a will, work with an experienced estate planning attorney. If you want to cover everything, and are not sure what everything is, that’s why you see them.
Complex issues? Multiple assets?. Take a more holistic look at your estate plan and look at estate planning, tax planning and financial planning together, since they’re all interrelated. If you only look at one of these areas at a time, you may create complications in another. This could unintentionally increase your expenses or taxes. Your situation might also include special issues or circumstances. A do-it-yourself website might not be able to tell you how to account for your specific situation in the best possible way. It will just give you a blanket list, and it will all be cookie cutter. You won’t have the individual attention to your goals and priorities you get by sitting down and talking to an experienced estate planning attorney.
Estate laws vary from state to state. Every state may have different rules for estate planning, such as for powers of attorney or a health care proxy.
Setting up health care directives and making end-of-life decisions can be very involved. Avoid the failures of do-it-yourself estate planning. It’s too important to try to do it yourself. If you make a mistake, it could impact the ability of your family to take care of financial expenses or manage health care issues. Don’t do it yourself.
Allow The Fetty Firm, P.C. to step in and help you with your Estate Planning needs. Find a trusted, experienced attorney capable of making choices that can assist your family. We will help you problem solve!
