Maybe you can install your own adobe tile floors, make your own Mata Ortiz pots, teach yourself a foreign language, and improve your golf game on your own. But when it comes to preparing your estate planning documents, this is no do-it-yourself project.
Save Yourself Money and Headaches: Hire Competent Estate Planning Counsel.
The problem with trying to draft wills, trusts, financial powers of attorney, health care directives and health care powers of attorney on your own is this: regardless of how good the form or the non-attorney filling out the form is, you do not have the ability to amend your documents. The main issue with online formats is that they do not allow for you to make adjustments to specific provisions, like an experienced estate planning attorney can. Even if you were to attempt to make those amendments, if they are not done properly, you could create issues that invalidate your documents altogether; leading to spending thousands to correct the issues. For these reasons, it is wiser to make the one-time, up-front investment into a properly and competently drafted Legacy Estate Plan than to risk future issues and higher expenditures.
The problem with online, legal self-help websites is that can only give you general information. They do not give you all the information and answers you need for your specific circumstances, goals, and needs. They cannot sit down with you and analyze your situation and find out what you need. Nor can they plan for unexpected contingencies. Moreover, no website will be able to explain you each individual’s circumstances.
Estate Planning requires the advice of experienced counsel. An attorney will ask you the right questions and will elicit the information needed to truly understand your individual needs, your family dynamics, and your objectives. An attorney can also provide you with options to accomplish your unique goals. Your documents will be prepared correctly and legally. We personally prepare all our clients’ documents from scratch and we make sure that the documents we draft have all the latest, up-to-date information. We do not use another person’s documents as a basis for drafting yours. For each individual person we draft documents for, we start from a blank slate. We provide you with the best and most reliable estate planning documents available and ensure that appropriate assets are funded into your plan.
A final reason why you should not prepare your estate planning documents yourself is for your own peace of mind. Consider whether you know what you are doing and whether your family’s needs will be adequately met by a plan you prepare yourself, and whether they will actually follow-through with it. Having the peace of mind that comes with an attorney-prepared estate plan can be of immense value.
Doctors don’t operate on themselves. And you should not “operate” on your assets, by trying to prepare your own estate plan.
Talk To an Estate Planning Attorney!
As experienced trusts and estates attorneys we can help you. We offer free consultations, and we serve all of Arizona. Our offices are located in beautiful Sedona and we serve Verde Valley as well. We can help you provide and plan for your loved ones. Call us at 928-282-1483 or contact us here.
