Self-Help Estate Planning Techniques Publicized

In Get Yourself a Will: Here’s a Way, USA Weekend, Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2007, at 28, Sharon Epperson touts the benefits of self-help estate planning techniques as follows:

Any adult of sound mind can draft a basic will on his own for a fraction of the cost of turning to a trust and estates attorney. It may not be the most comprehensive will, but at least you will have a legal document designating guardianship for your children, naming beneficiaries and specifying your last wishes.

Ms. Epperson then reviews the following products:

• Quicken WillMaker Plus
• On-line will forms
• Simple Will Book by Denis Clifford

Wisely, Ms. Epperson concludes her article with the following warning:

Still, no book, software or website can answer the myriad questions that an estate-planning attorney can address.

I would, however, have been more comfortable with a stronger warning about the major problems that often arise when individuals do self-help estate planning.  You could do open heart surgery on yourself, too, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.