Need will advice. Has anyone drafted their own? Or did you work with a wills/estates lawyer? (I’m in corporate if that matters).

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I am a trusts and estates lawyer and I absolutely advise against writing your own will. Pay the 5k and get it done correctly.

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Another TE lawyer here and 100% concur. Do not draft your own or even worse pull from the internet. I can fill a book with nightmare stories.

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I had one of my tax guys point me to his preferred form and did it myself. Ran a question or two by him, but he didn’t mind as he was relieved that I wasn’t looking for full blown help. I was partners with him at the time though.

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I would draft my own and follow the statute in your jurisdiction for proper execution. Personally, I placed my assets in non probate by adding beneficiaries and making everything payable on death. My state also allows you to transfer your home outside of probate. I don't want my kid to worry about having to pay an attorney to probate my estate while grieving. I have everything set to automatically be distributed to her.

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I had a partner at my firm do it. I use it as a marketing tool to get clients in the door. "I trusted the firm to draft my own will and trust to provide for my kids." Etc.

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Whatever you do, make sure to strictly comply with all formalities regarding the execution of wills in your jurisdiction. I had a case not too long ago where the decedent got a will from LegalZoom and signed it in front of only one witness. The law in my jurisdiction requires two witnesses to a will, so the decedent’s estate was treated as if it was intestate.

This is a very common misstep. Also, people are quite fond of striking out portions they later dislike and writing in new provisions without doing an actual codicil, amendment, or entirely new document.

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