It may seem cheap, quick and easy to get your estate plan done using an online do-it-yourself legal document creation service. But the downside of these DIY services is that there is NO ONE to guide you and guarantee that you have accurate, complete or even semi-functional legal estate documents in place.  (Which means what you print may not even be worth the cost of that printer ink!)

Legal Zoom does not lose their license if you do not fill out their form and sign it correctly.  Without an experienced estate planning attorney to guide you through the process of creating a comprehensive estate plan, the likelihood of having an actual complete and functional plan in case of emergency is slim to none. So without further ado let’s talk about why this is the case.

 

Doing It Online: No Guarantee your Plan is Complete

I get it.  Who wants to go to an attorney to do anything?  They are expensive, they are inconvenient, they speak in a different language and they seem to make things more confusing than they need to be. Online legal Do-it-Yourself services seem really accessible, super inexpensive, and you don’t even have to leave your desk to get-er-done. It really does look easy, cheap and inexpensive to do it this way.  It may even be faster.

The downside however, is that you get what you pay for. You get legal forms that you are left alone to fill out. And you have to guess which forms to download to create a complete estate plan. And if you are most people, you do not know all the documents that are included in a complete estate plan and you do not know how to fill them out accurately and completely.  Last but not least, no one actually ever signs these documents in the way that is required by the state they live in to make them legally viable documents.  The result then from these DIY services is an incomplete, and not legally recognized plan. They are not worth the ink you used to print them.

 

A DIY Service Only Provides you FORMS…. not Legal Advice

A do-it-yourself (DIY) service does not lose their law license if you fill out the forms wrong or fail to sign them correctly. It does not get sued for malpractice if you fail to choose all the forms you need for your unique family circumstance to ensure you have a comprehensive plan. You are instead left alone in a world of confusing lawyer language – we call it “legalese,” with no one to translate, and make sure you understand correctly.  As a result, when doing it yourself you miss important details, you misunderstand what the form is asking for, and your plan doesn’t have everything it needs to do its job for you when the time comes.

Finally, online DIY services do not give you detailed instructions on how to finalize your estate plan.  It does not tell you how and when to sign your documents and all of the other things you need to do besides filling out the forms to create a complete estate plan.  Other instructions missing include; how to fund your trust, beneficiary designations, creating a legally binding pet trust/pet legal guardian, appointing short term guardians for your children, and making sure your house is protected. The list goes on. Because all you are paying for is a fillable PDF.  You are not getting instructions on how to create an actual legally binding estate plan, and the DIY Service is not liable to you or your family if you fail to use the forms the way they intended. They are not liable if people forget to sign their documents or if when they do sign them, you don’t sign them properly. At the end of the day you bought a form, not an estate plan, so there is no guarantee that you have an actual legally binding estate plan in place.

 

Working With An Attorney: Ensures You are Buying a Legally Binding Estate Plan

The first benefit of working with an experienced Estate Planning attorney is that you have an advocate who will translate the language of the law for you.  We call that especially confusing legal language “Legalese.”  You are not left alone having to guess if you are filling out forms correctly, or what forms you need.  At Latterell Law we listen to you, in your own words, to understand what you want, and then we translate your goals into the legal documents and other tools you need. We do not confuse you with legal language, or force you to figure it out for yourself, we translate the legalese for you making sure you have a functional and legally binding estate plan that works when you need it.

Most people do not even know where to start when creating an estate plan. You are in a foreign land, without a map and you do not speak the language.  When you work with an experienced attorney they act as a tour guide for you. In my firm we give you a simple place to start, and we guide you step-by-step through the process to make sure we have left no stone unturned, no place in your life unexamined, so that we have the right people in the right place doing the right things in your legal documents, and that we have done all the other necessary steps necessary to make sure your comprehensive plan does what it is intended to do when the time comes.

Hands on Consultation to Make Sure Your Plan Works When You Need It Most

Finally, there are things you need to do after you sign your legal documents to ensure that your estate plan works as intended. What is UNIQUE about my firm is that we are not just going to give you your legal documents and send you on your way.  We are going to hold your hand until you have completed all the other practical and administrative steps necessary to complete your plan. This step is often missed, even by attorneys, but is most certainly not provided by DIY legal form providers.  At Latterell Law we provide unlimited consultation to ensure you have a plan that does what it is supposed to do, and that you understand how to use it.  And then we sit down with you every three years to make sure your estate plan is always up to date.  And this is all included in one flat rate. You pay us once and you get our support for life and beyond (because we’ll help your family after you are gone too).

DIY legal services may look cheap and easy but at the end of the day they do not work. It is garbage in, garbage out.  If you do not know how to read the language or fill out all of the correct forms DIY form providers are a waste of time and money, providing a false sense of security.

Instead of risking leaving your loved ones in a world of hurt when you die because your plan is incomplete or not even legally binding – you can hire an experienced estate planning attorney who will listen to you, speak your language, and make the process of creating a comprehensive estate plan easy to navigate. Hiring an attorney will guarantee you have a complete and legally binding plan in place.  It is an investment in peace of mind to ensure that your plan will work when you need it most.

If you would like to get started on the path to creating a comprehensive estate plan that will work for you when the time comes, use the link below to book a call with us today.

Most parents of young children think – “I need a will so that I can tell the state who should parent my children if I die.”  But a guardian nomination in a will can only do part of the job, as it does not actually appoint parental substitutes to act in case of emergency. 

Here I will explain what you need to do to ensure you have appointed long and short term guardians for your children in case you die or in case of emergency. So without further ado..

 

A Will Nominates Long Term Guardians Only

When an actor or actress is nominated for an Oscar – they do not automatically receive the award right? The academy votes as to who actually receives the award.  You can think of your guardian nomination in your will as very similar.  

You have nominated someone you think should become the long term guardian of your children if you are dead.  However, the court, the Probate Court judge has the last say, and may have to make the decision among others who choose to nominate themselves. This creates the possibility of a lengthy court battle and conflict among family with your children hanging in the balance.  

This process can also take months and sometimes years, to complete.  What happens if you are in an accident and do not come home from work?  Who takes care of your children in that emergency situation?  The police are not going to watch your children for the weeks or months it takes for the court to figure out who should be the children’s guardians.  Your children will go into foster care if there isn’t an appropriate blood relative immediately findable or available during an emergency situation. 

 

Guardian Appointments are Necessary for Emergency Situations

The solution is to do more than just nominate long term guardians in your will. Instead we create an entire emergency response plan with a comprehensive set of documents that includes short and long term guardian appointments. 

First, as part of your official legal estate plan we have signed and witnessed appointments of short term and long term guardians.  These are individuals you choose while you are alive and well, and you authorize them to act as you with a set of legal documents.  This way you and your children know who to call in case of emergency.  And those individuals have copies of all the important paperwork necessary for them to show to first responders, social workers, and the police.

A comprehensive plan for emergency also includes an emergency phone tree, instructions for caregivers (nannies, babysitters), medical powers of attorney for the kiddos, doctors lists, and a set of  comprehensive instructions for the short and long term guardians so they can act as a surrogate parent immediately without having to wait for court approval. 

With this process you can ensure the right people are taking care of your children and that they do not end up as wards of the state while strangers make decisions about who they stay with. You decide, and you make sure your children are with people they know, and that you know will take care of them as you want them to be. This prevents the possibility of needless suffering for your children. How horrible would it be for them to lose you and have to go into temporary foster care? Exactly why it is so important to stipulate guardians and create a comprehensive emergency response plan. 

 

Make Sure Your Children Are Taken Care of In Case Of An Emergency

It is necessary to do more than talk to people and nominate them to be long term guardians of your children.  A guardianship nomination in a will does not do the job in case of emergency.  You want to work with an experienced estate planning attorney to create short and long term guardianship appointments, as well as to create all the other necessary paperwork to ensure your children do not end up wards of the state.  Completing a comprehensive guardianship and emergency response plan ensures that they will always be with people they know and love, even in the worst case scenario.  

To get started creating your comprehensive guardianship and emergency response plan you can book a consultation with our law firm today by clicking the link below.

What is the difference between a Will and Trust?  And why do I need one or the other?  This is the most frequently asked question I get from clients and potential clients. The short answer is –  you need both, because they do two different things for a comprehensive estate plan.

 

Wills: Your Last Testimony

A will (i.e. a Last Will and Testament) is a legal document that tells both your beneficiaries and the government in the state you live in how your assets are going to be distributed after your death. In other words, a Will is a letter to a judge that says – these are the people who get my stuff, and how much of your stuff they are supposed to get. 

Another way you can look at it is a Will is an instructional document for a judge to read and approve in Probate Court. Probate Court is where your stuff, known as your estate, is distributed by the government after you die. And a will is your “testimony” after death for the judge to use in that courtroom to properly distribute your things according to your wishes. Everyone who dies, who owns anything of any kind must go through probate court after they die.

If you die without a will the probate court judge will determine how your things are distributed using a state statute. So it is always better to have a will than not, so your testimony exists for the judge after you are dead.

In most cases, Probate court takes about 9 to 12 months or longer to distribute your property, and your beneficiaries have to wait that entire time before they receive their inheritance. And this is one of the reasons Living Trusts exist – because a Living Trust creates a means of distributing your property to beneficiaries without Probate court involvement.

 

Living Trusts: Instructions to Carry Out your Wishes

You can think of a Living Trust like a contract that creates a treasure chest. This treasure chest is going to hold all your assets while you are alive and after your death. The Living Trust gives a trusted person (the Trustee) a key to this treasure chest, and a set of instructions, so they can distribute all of your assets after you die according to your specific wishes. This allows you to bypass the Probate Court, because you no longer need a judge to distribute your things – because your Living Trust does this for you.

This means it will only take a few weeks to 2 months for your assets to be distributed by your appointed trusted person to your beneficiaries. Everything will be all laid out, and no one will have to go to court or hire an attorney after you die – saving your estate and beneficiaries time, energy and money.

In summary – a Will is final testimony to a judge so a court can distribute your property when you die.   A Living Trust is a contract document that appoints a person you know and trust to distribute your things so you do not need the courts involvement.

 

Two Important Parts of a Complete Estate Plan

Even though the purpose of these two documents is different.  You want both a Will and a Living Trust as part of a comprehensive estate plan. The Living Trust ensures your beneficiaries do not have to wait to receive their inheritance, or have to hire a lawyer or deal with a confusing court system after you die.  Your Will exists as a “just in case” so your testimony exists after death to tell the judge that you want the Living Trust to control distribution of your assets.

Working with an experienced estate planning attorney will help you create this comprehensive estate plan.  Book a call today using the button below.

There are many different ways to prepare for your future with your estate planning attorney. There are many different types of documents, plans, and decisions that you have to make when deciding how you want to distribute your estate. When looking at the options and deciding what estate plan is best for your situation, you may find yourself wondering: what is the difference between a will and a trust? How do I decide which is best for me?

There isn’t just one type of will or one type of trust. It depends upon your personal situation, so it could look different for everyone. However, there are a few key differences that you want to make sure you take note of when you are making your decision.

Wills, And Avoiding Probate

One of the biggest differences between a will and a trust is that a will in Washington does not avoid probate. A will can settle a dispute as to how an estate will be distributed, but it will still have to go through the lengthy and often expensive probate process.

A trust, on the other hand, avoids the probate process, which can be especially beneficial if you choose to title your home, vehicles, or other assets into a trust.

Trusts, And Nomination of a Guardian

Another huge difference is how a person can nominate a guardian for any minor children they have. A trust cannot nominate a guardian in any way. If you have children of minor age, it is important that you use a will to name their guardian in the case of unexpected events.

A trust can rename your assets with a designation to your children, but your trust cannot establish a guardian for your children.

Wills And Trusts Working in Tandem

A person will often need both a will and a trust. These two documents work hand in hand in distributing your estate, nominating a guardian, and establishing control of your assets. Anyone who owns a home in Washington may want to have a trust to title their home in. If you have a trust, you will also need a pour over will that works together with your trust. Most people have a will and a trust in their estate plan.

Wrapping Up

Everyone’s estate plan will be different, depending on their personal needs and circumstances. Although decision making regarding your estate plan can be confusing and daunting, remember that your estate planning attorney is there to help you remember the differences between each document, and help you decide the best solution for your situation. Schedule a callback by clicking the link below to talk more with me about what plan might be best for you!