Can I just DIY my Estate Plan?

THE ISSUE: I don’t have a lot of assets. Can I just DIY my estate planning?

THE SOLUTION: You shouldn’t expect to DIY an estate plan with any actual effectiveness. While there certainly are do-it-yourself options for estate planning, if you can afford to pay for expert help, and avoid costly pitfalls, why wouldn’t you?

Estate planning is complicated, laws are constantly changing, and the cost of making a mistake can be significant. Your estate planning attorney helps you design a plan that takes into account not just the trust and probate code, but can also touch on real estate law, tax law, business law, family law, medicaid law and elder law. Many DIY plans try to take shortcuts without fully realizing the full impact of their choices– and rarely have back-up plans if something does not go as expected, which happens more than we think. With DIY plans, I’ve seen people expose their heirs unnecessarily to capital gains taxes, and estate taxes. I have even seen situations where the people the DIYer thought would inherit never see a dime— and there are no legal means to challenge their lack of inheritance.

On the other side, I’ve also seen DIY plans that leave wide open the possibility that disgruntled family members could (and often do) challenge your estate plan. Or that one heir ends up paying all the taxes, expenses and debts from their share, because the other heirs received their share outside of probate and not obliged to pay debts the way the probate executor is. These types of situations can create conflict in families that are sometimes never healed. Hiring a lawyer to help you make wise decisions about life and death can be the most empowering choice you ever make for yourself and your loved ones to protect assets and family harmony.

When you hire a professional estate planning attorney, you get not only legal expertise but also someone who is actively looking out for your interests. Someone who knows the all the legal landscape that is relevant to estate planning and foresees issues before they arise. As your attorney, I recommend we review your plan every three to five years to ensure it is current and immediately amend it following events like divorce, deaths, births, inheritances and any significant change in goals or circumstances. The good news is that updating a living trust typically costs a lot less than setting it up in the first place.

If you are considering trying to DIY your estate plan, please contact me today and schedule a 15-minute discovery call. I am happy to help you determine whether or not using a professional is in your best interest!