Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

You always need to be concerned about actual and/or apparent conflicts of interest when you have relatives who are attorneys do work for you. With a will you also need to be concerned about the fact that, one would assume that if you trust your son to draft it, he is still in your good graces and would be a beneficiary under the will, and perhaps even the executor. With that said, however, as in most states, in Massachusetts a will, in order to be valid, must be executed by you and two witnesses, further it is in your best interest to also have a self-proving affidavit signed and notarized (ask your son about it). So you could have your son draft it and you could, independently, go and have it witnessed. The pitfall in all of this is really dynamics between beneficiaries - ask yourself the practical questions -- will some sibling rivalry come into play - will someone challege whether you knew what your son was drafting - to put it bluntly, you'll be dead, so it won't be your headache...it will be your son's headache and your exectutor's headache. So it might be worth having another attorney draft it (you can always let your son take a look at it), or your son might want to put together some ideas for you and bring it to another attorney who can then put something together for you. Wills are relatively inexpensive for most people, so it might be worth it to have another attorney draft it.

It is considered a conflict of interest and could be challenged by siblings if the terms of the Will seem to favor him or his children. If however the Will leaves everything to your spouse and family and upon the death everything is split equally, then there should be no problem. If however, you intend to disinherit someone or tie up someone other than your attorney son's inheritance, I would have a third party prepare the Will.

An attorney should not draft a Will in which he is a beneficiary.