It can be very tempting for many people to save money by drafting their own estate planning documents, including Wills, Trusts, Living Wills, and Powers of Attorney, using a computer program rather than spending more money to hire an attorney. It is better to spend a little more money and hire an estate planning professional.
People sometimes make the mistake of thinking that they have a simple estate which only requires a simple estate plan. Although the situation may appear simple to them, there can often be issues that won’t be noticed or addressed by the individual. In addition, very frequently when people begin drafting their own documents using computer programs, questions arise and they can’t obtain the information they need.
Computer programs aren’t capable of personally analyzing each situation to see if the client needs unique provisions inserted into their documents or advice on how to title assets a certain way. In fact, estate planning can be so complex that most attorneys who don’t have experience in the field won’t even draft their own documents, preferring instead to pay a specialist in the field.
Unfortunately, if mistakes are made in the preparation of Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, and other documents, they can have devastating consequences, both financial and personal, for the people left behind. At that point, it is too late to fix most of the problems that can arise.
It is worth paying a professional to draft the documents that will govern the assets you’ve worked a lifetime to accumulate. If you’re in New York, contact the Estate Planning Attorneys at Friedman & Ranzenhofer at 716-542-5444 to learn more about how to protect your assets.