Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning

Why You Shouldn’t Draft Your Own Will, Trust or Estate Planning Documents

By Colleen L. Sahlas, Attorney

We are a do-it-yourself society.  There are thousands of books, television shows and websites all claiming that you can save money by just doing it yourself.  And who doesn’t want to save money?  Sell your home without a real estate agent, take on a home improvement project, learn to change the oil in your car, and do it without having to pay for the aid of the experts.  Many have felt a sense of satisfaction in working hard and learning something new all while saving a few bucks.

 

DIY Estate Planning Kits

There are numerous companies which offer DIY Estate Plan Kits.  They claim that “most people don’t need a fancy trust,” and that wills are not hard to draft.  They offer a “one size fits all” product and tell you that you don’t need an expensive, customized estate plan.

 

Can You Draft a Will without Knowledge of the Law and Legal Expertise?

The notion behind the “DIY” movement is that anyone can do it.  But can just anyone do the job of a licensed professional and skip sacrificing the time, money and hard work to get the required education and credentials?  Perhaps the average Joe or Jane can read a self-help book or follow a step-by-step guide to perform the job of a salesperson or tradesperson.  But can the purchase of a simple pre-fabricated kit allow you to become your own lawyer?

Just like the medical community only treats individuals who are authorized by a professional to get that treatment, the Illinois Courts only recognize a properly drafted Will and will invalidate any Will which does not meet the requirements of State law.

 

No Guarantees

How will you know if your layman’s drafting of documents is competent?  Unless you are a licensed estate planning lawyer, you won’t have the legal knowledge or legal expertise to analyze the accuracy of your work.

Since a will doesn’t come into effect until after your death, you will never know if you’ve drafted your estate plan accurately.  Your will could be invalid, ineffective, incomplete, inadequate, inaccurate, and could inadvertently backfire.   Your will could fail to meet the requirements of Illinois law  to be upheld as a valid will, or could contain legal language having consequences you never understood much less intended.  No, you won’t know, but your family members and loved ones will find out and may suffer the lasting consequences of your mistake.

 

High Stakes and Permanent Consequences

If you can’t sell your home yourself, you can always hire an agent later on.  Maybe you’ll lose money from having your house on the market too long or having missed an opportunity at a better sale.  If you botch a home repair project, you can have a contractor come in and re-do the work.  The worst case scenario is lost time, money and having to remedy any further damage caused by your inexperience. 

But if you improperly write your will, you will not discover your mistake since you will no longer be alive.  If the Court rules that your will is not valid, you can’t come back from the grave to  re-draft it.  After your death, your loved ones will not only be the ones who discover your mistake but will also be bound by it and could suffer calamitous effects from it.  The risks of improperly drafting your own estate plan can have lasting, detrimental consequences leaving your assets unprotected and your loved ones devastated and without provision. 

 

Why DIY estate planning won’t save you money – Penny Wise & Pound Foolish

Have you really met your needs and objectives by saving a few bucks now to skimp on something as important as providing for your family after you’re gone, naming a guardian for your children in the event that you (and/or your spouse if applicable) pass away, helping your loved ones avoid the lengthy and expensive probate process and protecting your assets from federal and estate taxes?  Don’t be “penny wise and pound foolish,” by sacrificing much in order to gain a little.

 

Get it Done Right the First Time

You’ve heard the old saying, “you get what you pay for."  We’ve gotten the occasional client who confessed to having purchased a DIY estate plan kit and later suffered buyer’s remorse.   Desiring assurance that the non-lawyer client had properly drafted their own estate planning documents, they had asked us to look over these documents and make sure they were accurate.  This is analogous to asking your surgeon to give his/her seal of approval after you’ve performed your own surgery.   Let the professional do it right the first time.

We recommend you have us draft your estate plan and don’t try to do it yourself. We offer a free 1/2 hour estate planning consultation.  Complete the form on the Contact Us page or Call us at (630) 575-0400 to make an appointment today.

For more information, read:

• the Illinois State Bar Association’s pamphlet, “Estate Planning Requires Legal Help."
• the Illinois State Bar Association’s pamphlet, “What You Need to Know About Preparing a Will."

By Colleen L. Sahlas, Attorney 

If you have questions about the application of the law in a particular case, consult your lawyer. The law is constantly changing. Information on this site or any site to which we link does not constitute legal advice.