Don’t fall victim to the concept of do-it-yourself (DIY) estate planning. Sure, the idea of saving money that would be spent having an attorney draft your estate plan is alluring, but is it worth it?
Everyone likes to save money, but the truth of the matter is that you may end up costing your family more money than you save. A DIY approach may work well for constructing a backyard deck or renovating a bathroom, but an effective, well-crafted estate plan is not something that can be accomplished with just a book, a dream and an Internet connection, and here is why:
1. Almost all DIY estate planning kits are created on a one-size-fits-all principle. As a result, these kits use standard forms that require you to fill in the blanks. While it may sound easy, the problem is that these forms may result in loopholes that others could use to their advantage, destroying the plan you had in mind.
2. The tax laws are constantly changing and a DIY kit may not be keeping up with those changes. This means that your survivors may lose out on tax savings that a qualified estate planning attorney would be able to secure for them.
3. Using a DIY kit to plan your estate often results in people granting too much power and control to another party. They create a power of attorney that he or she doesn’t fully understand, and they do so simply because they are not aware that other, more appropriate alternatives exist.
Source:http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=29373
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