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The ease with which fill-in-the-blank legal forms can be found online often prompts people to think that using those forms is a great way to save time and money. In reality, using DIY forms is likely to cost your loved ones considerably more time and money than you save using them. What makes using DIY documents in an estate plan even worse is the fact that the problems inherent in those documents are not likely to be discovered until you are incapacitated or gone, meaning you will not be able to fix any of the damage.
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It is important to keep in mind that the DIY forms you encounter on the internet may have been there for years. In the interim, applicable laws may have changed, making some of the language in the form, or the entire form, effectively worthless at best and ripe for litigation at worst.
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State laws govern many issues regarding estate planning topics. For this reason, estate planning forms must be state specific to ensure they will be valid. Many DIY forms, however, are generic and do not include state specific considerations. Consequently, the DIY form you use might hold up to judicial scrutiny on one state but not in another.
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Another significant problem with using DIY estate planning forms is that the documents that make up your estate plan will usually need to interact with each other. Using just one DIY legal form is risky enough; however, trying to use several increases the likelihood of failure because they may not interact well with one another. The result can be chaos that leads to litigation.
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State laws often require estate planning forms to be executed using the proper legal formalities for the form to be recognized as valid. This is when some DIY forms fail completely because they don’t even explain how the state you live in requires you to execute the document. When any legal document is not executed correctly it can cause the document to be declared invalid.
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One of the primary reasons for creating an estate plan is to avoid leaving behind an intestate estate because doing so means the state intestate succession laws determine what happens to your assets. Unfortunately, however, one of the most frequent problems caused using DIY estate planning forms is incomplete distribution of the estate. If any assets are left out of your plan an intestate estate proceeding will have to be initiated, completely defeating the entire purpose of creating your estate plan.
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Your estate plan is to intended to protect and provide for your loved ones. The opposite is likely to happen using DIY documents. Instead of protecting your loved ones, they will end up paying the price in the form of protracted litigation. Not only will that cost time and money, but it could also cause a family rift that may never completely heal.
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Do not be swayed by claims that a DIY legal document has been created by or even reviewed by an attorney. Estate planning should be a highly individualized process that takes into account your exact circumstances, needs, and goals. The only way to create an estate plan that is uniquely designed to protect you, your assets, and your loved ones is to work with an experienced estate planning attorney.
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Contact Us
If you have additional question or concerns regarding estate planning, contact the experienced Arizona estate planning attorneys at Morris Hall PLLC by calling 888-222-1328 to schedule an appointment.
