Will And Trust

Hooked | Aug 30, 2020 | 236 posts since 2019

Instead of going to a lawyer, I was thinking of using a seemingly reputable online service to prepare my set of trust/will documents (Revocable Living Trust, Will, Power of Attorney, etc). The lawyer’s fee (flat fee) is about three times of the online service’s though still seems reasonable. I don’t think my situation is complicated. My biggest worry about using the attorney is that he is a sole proprietor and I fear his process may be slow, and he does not have a backup in case there are reasons for him to be absent, temporarily or otherwise. Does anyone have experience with using an online service to prepare your will/trust documents? Many thanks.

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Answers

CuriousDave | Aug 31, 2020 | 233 posts since 2018

A family member used an online service and it went well. She was fortunate because she had taken the trouble of first reading up as much as she could on the subject. That was smart because estate planning is a minefield for anyone without knowledge. What helped was that her situation was straightforward as there were no special issues such as discord within the family or children from an earlier marriage. She discovered she did not need a trust because most her assets were of the kind that could be beneficiary-designated (like retirement plans and POD accounts) and what she and her husband owned together, like their personal residence and their brokerage account, could be held in joint tenancy, though if one spouse dies that may be the right time to put those assets in a trust, to avoid probate. She was also turned off by reading that a trust serves no purpose unless it is funded, meaning one's assets need to be re-titled into the trust's name, and that after the death of a spouse, when a trust becomes irrevocable, trust income tax returns may need to be filed for trusts that have a taxable income, for every year the trust continues to exist. Very few people other than tax pros are willing or able to prepare trust tax returns correctly, so heirs who are trust beneficiaries like surviving spouses often have extra expenses after death that they might not have foreseen when the trust was created.

Hooked | Aug 31, 2020 | 236 posts since 2019

CuriousDave - many thanks for sharing. Much appreciated.

Choice | Aug 31, 2020 | 937 posts since 2020

An overarching aspect of POA is will it work and be accepted? Those are operative until death...the others are frankly at the end of the day someone else’s problem (too). I have POA copies in my travel material, on line, and in the cars...use them before you really need them! Financial and medical POAs.

CuriousDave | Sep 3, 2020 | 233 posts since 2018

The reference in my attempted response was to POD (Pay On Death) accounts, as opposed to POAs, which are Powers Of Attorney and have a very different meaning and purpose. Someone named as a POD on an account becomes the owner of the account when the original owner dies. Someone who is nominated to hold a Power of Attorney is given certain rights (and duties) under the power to act in place of the party who gave the power but such a power terminates upon the death of the party who gave the power. A POA does not give anyone the right to inherit assets, only to manage them to the extent allowed by the POA document, and then only until death. A POD's right, which IS a right of ownership, BEGINS at death.

ocsteve | Aug 30, 2020 | 96 posts since 2010

I have a little bit of general information to offer. Several years ago I had a local Estate Attorney prepare a Living Trust for me (live in Ca.), and he charged maybe $1,250-$1,500, which included all the documents you mentioned above. I found out years later when I was having a complete revision done (Amended and Restated), that most attorneys use a template that covers most typical situations and they customize it to fit the person’s specific situation.

Although I used an attorney to prepare the documents, I also purchased several self-help books from Nolo (Nolo.com) that operates a store on-line. In settling my Parent’s estates under a living trust, they were very helpful, so I did not need an attorney to settle the estates.

In my most recent Amended and Restated version of the Living Trust, I found that the solo attorney was a little hard to sometimes contact, but when I needed a copy (went to the hospital unexpectedly and could not find my originals), my family was able to obtain a copy for a small duplicating cost.

I think using an Estate Attorney is a little better than a software program yourself, as you can ask many questions of the attorney and can resolve important issue present in your specific case.

Hope this helps.
OC Steve

Hooked | Aug 31, 2020 | 236 posts since 2019

OC Steve - many thanks for sharing your experience. Much appreciated.

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