Has anyone already made a will?

sycheh

My husband and I are talking about getting our will(s) together. I was hoping this was something we could do through a (reputable) website, rather than going through a lawyer - has anyone had an experience (good or bad) with creating a will online? Any particular websites? Thanks in advance!

g8trkim

We did ours through a lawyer (I know that's not what you're asking for but I thought I would throw in my opinion). I will say, we researched this a lot, but when it was all said and done going through a lawyer was very educational and reassuring. He brought up a lot of points that we would have never even thought of and gave us really great advice. So, if you don't have any luck finding something online, I would say you may want to consider the lawyer thing.

IEtoLA

I have a friend who is an attorney and he said legalzoom.com was good and he was going to do the same. 

Sami519

We used LegalZoom, but we wrote a very basic will - ie. all our assets go to DS and DS goes to my parents if something happens.  It was extremely simple.  We are going to do some more research after DS #2 comes around.  For some reason I think DS had to have a SS# for use to make him a beneficiary on the will... but I could be wrong.  I know we waiting until then to make it.

KiraH28

I was actually interested in this too, I'm going to check out LegalZoom.

HappyMama30

g8trkim:

We did ours through a lawyer (I know that's not what you're asking for but I thought I would throw in my opinion). I will say, we researched this a lot, but when it was all said and done going through a lawyer was very educational and reassuring. He brought up a lot of points that we would have never even thought of and gave us really great advice. So, if you don't have any luck finding something online, I would say you may want to consider the lawyer thing.

 

I agree with this.  We went through a lawyer, and he had so much experience it was like clock work for him.  He led us through it and we had already decided who our "people" would be in case of mutual death.  I liked knowing a person was handling all the details, and I never even thought of doing it on-line.  But, it may be simple to do!  Good luck!

6fsn

I'm going to second the lawyer recommendation.  They know the laws of your state and can help guide you so that your loved ones can move through probate quickly and easily.  There are other things to consider besides a will though- power of attorney, medical power of attorney- what if you are both hurt?, financial trustee same as or separate from the gaurdian? 

g8trkim

6fsn:

I'm going to second the lawyer recommendation.  They know the laws of your state and can help guide you so that your loved ones can move through probate quickly and easily.  There are other things to consider besides a will though- power of attorney, medical power of attorney- what if you are both hurt?, financial trustee same as or separate from the gaurdian? 

Yeah, I should have added this. There were all sorts of things we never even thought of. In addition, we are (sadly) worried that MIL may try to get her hands on our assets in the event something happened to both of us. So we wanted to make extra sure she didn't get custody or any money. In addition, we both have pretty hefty life insurance and didn't want my mom (who would get custody) to have to be solely responsible for all the monetary things so we issued a trust company that would help her decide how the money would be used, i.e. what she would need and what they would get/when they would get it.

If your families are pretty clear on everything and you trust that they would follow through, and you don't have a lot of assets then you may be okay with doing something online. If you think it may get complicated, you may want a professional to help.

rakle99

Nolo.com is a great website. I am not a lawyer and I was able to successfully sue a former landlord based on the information and documents available on that website. They have stuff for wills too.

Heavenisaplace

KiraH28:

I was actually interested in this too, I'm going to check out LegalZoom.

I have been thinking about this as well. I am checking on the website right now!

hmontty

g8trkim:

6fsn:

I'm going to second the lawyer recommendation.  They know the laws of your state and can help guide you so that your loved ones can move through probate quickly and easily.  There are other things to consider besides a will though- power of attorney, medical power of attorney- what if you are both hurt?, financial trustee same as or separate from the gaurdian? 

Yeah, I should have added this. There were all sorts of things we never even thought of. In addition, we are (sadly) worried that MIL may try to get her hands on our assets in the event something happened to both of us. So we wanted to make extra sure she didn't get custody or any money. In addition, we both have pretty hefty life insurance and didn't want my mom (who would get custody) to have to be solely responsible for all the monetary things so we issued a trust company that would help her decide how the money would be used, i.e. what she would need and what they would get/when they would get it.

If your families are pretty clear on everything and you trust that they would follow through, and you don't have a lot of assets then you may be okay with doing something online. If you think it may get complicated, you may want a professional to help.

If you are already pretty well versed in how estate law works, then I would probably just go with LegalZoom. If you are clueless, see a lawyer.

My family is really big on estate planning, trusts, and the like, so even though I am not a lawyer, I have a good understanding of how things work, and I feel comfortable naming a custodian, etc., so LegalZoom worked for us (for wills, powers of attorney, and living wills).

Also, time to look into life insurance. I love knowing that if DH and I both die, DD will have over a million dollars for her maintenance, managed by a trustee at Vanguard until she is 30.