Christopher B. Kroll & Associates – Elder Law Solutions

     Many people bypass lawyers and create their own wills, trusts, powers of attorney and other estate planning documents with the help of online tools and books.  Does this approach breed mistakes?  When it comes to legal issues, does one size fit all?

      There are many risks involved with preparing estate planning documents yourself.  One risk of the do-it-yourself approach is that self-written documents may contain holes that can lead to costly errors.  If the documents are  not properly witnessed or notarized, then the documents could be considered invalid.  In addition, a self-written documents may  inadvertently give someone more power than you want (when writing a durable power of attorney).  The do-it-yourself approach to estate planning can lead to a  false sense of security; answering one question incorrectly or overlooking something such as appointing a guardian for children can lead to major problems down the road.

     Bottom line:  consult an attorney that is knowledgeable in estate planning when preparing your estate planning documents.  Spending a few dollars now may save your estate  thousands of dollars later to fix problems that your do-it-yourself documents created.