Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: online will making

All of the attorneys who have responded to this question are right.

Do not burden your loved ones with a document that may cause more problems than it attempts to solve.

Please feel free to contact my office if you would like help putting together a comprehensive estate plan - it does not have to be unreasonably expensive, and will undoubtedly preserve your assets and estate in the long run.

Re: online will making

Well, the document might be legal if it complies with Massachusetts law concerning its contents and how it's signed and witnessed. It might even be ok if you have very little in the way of assets to leave anyone. However, a lot of attorneys make very good money cleaning up legal messes created by these do-it-yourself kits. The cost of this kind of legal clean up can run in the tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention the heartache for the heirs.

When you see an estate planning or elder law attorney about a will, you are not just getting a document -- you are spending time with a professional who has attended classes and read materials and has learned from experience about what does and doesn't work. The attorney will ask you questions necessary to create a plan which will work for your specific situation. You may even learn that there are planning options beyond what you might have considered. The documents are the end result of a process, not the process itself.

A well-crafted will should also come with a power of attorney and health care proxy, so that your family doesn't have to go to court if you are alive but incapacitated.

Moral -- the peace of mind which comes with a well-crafted estate plan that will do what you want it to do is worth the cost.

Re: online will making

I am not familar with either of these sites. If they comply with MA statutory requirements as to content and witnessing, they will be recognized.

If you do not have much in assets, this may serve your purpose. However, a lot of people make mistakes or do not understand what they are doing in using these do it yourself Wills and in the end attorneys get hired to clean up the problem at a relatively high cost.

A simple Will with a Durable Power of Attorney are usually advisable and are not very expensive to have prepared by a attorney.

Re: online will making

If the document created has all the requirements of a Massachusetts will, and is properly executed in accordance with Massachusetts law, it could in theory be recognized as a valid will.

Of course, if mistakes are made in the execution formalities, the will could be challenged or be ineffective, or a beneficiary/witness might find that they are not entitled to the bequest.

That, however, is not the end of the story. Much as you would not choose a surgeon based solely on price, if you ignore the value of an attorney's ongoing training and experience, you (your heirs, actually) will not have the same outcome as you would if you sat down with an estate planning attorney and had an opportunity to discuss your particular needs.

Your intended heirs could be lucky, the will might do what you want it to do, and they might not have any problems. It is a risk you will want to weigh, against the possibility that problems arise that cost much more to surmount after you have passed away.