More on Self-Help Wills

Earlier on this blog, I discussed a recent Wall Street Journal article which discussed the ways in which a person may obtain a will via self-help.  This topic has again received national attention in Emily Brandon, How to Write a Will Online, US News & World Report, Nov. 12, 2007.

Here are some excerpts from this article:

New parents, homeowners, and even people without significant assets should write a will. But articulating your final wishes doesn’t have to involve expensive visits to a lawyer. Now, there are plenty of online ways to create a will or trust, many of which take less than an hour from start to finish. Here’s an easy guide to writing a will on your own—often for much less than $100. * * *

“In a plain-vanilla situation, an intelligent person with no tax issues can go online and do a reasonable document that would be better than having no will at all,” says Rothschild of the ABA. But real life often involves second marriages, stepchildren, special assets like family businesses, property in multiple states, and other situations that don’t always fit into a fill-in-the-blank will with no legal advice. “In the more complicated situations that require legal judgment, there was too much of trying to be one size fits all for me to be comfortable recommending the online or computer programs,” Rothschild says. “There is a lot of art in lawyering. I am not sure these online programs have mastered the art part of a safe landing.”

Special thanks to Melanie Casner (J.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.