Wide Open Wallet
An honest look at family finances
Creating Wills online
Author: Ashley10 Sep
I’m embarrassed to say this but we don’t have wills. Gulp. I know, it’s bad. There are no excuses other than laziness, and a little bit of cheapness. We have talked about getting them about a dozen times. I even ordered Suze Orman’s will making program. And we started it. But we got confused, had some questions, and just basically didn’t feel confident about the whole thing. I’m sure it’s a great program, I don’t doubt that, and you really can’t beat the price. But we needed to do some more research and we just kinda stopped. I guess I need more hand holding.
I contacted a local lawyer to get prices for him to do it. Start to finish, signed, sealed, delivered, would cost $1,200. Really, based on other research that seems like a very fair price. But still… $1,200 is still a lot of money. Which is another stumbling block.
So then last night I saw a commercial for LegalZoom.com. Has anyone ever used them? Their website says they will create a will and trust for $250, and that they have unlimited customer support. I don’t really know what that means, unlimited customer support. Can they answer legal questions? I doubt it. Otherwise it would say something like “lawyers to answer your questions”.
I searched around to see what others were saying about Legal Zoom. I found this guy’s blog, and everyone who left a comment had terrible things to say. But those were the only bad things I could find. I found plenty of sites saying it was a good site.
Then I found this article from USA Today. It gives reviews of a couple of different computer programs that make wills. I might have to check those our more throughly when I have a minute.
Being a blended family really confuses things. If my husband and I were to die at the same time, is there a place in the will where I can state I want my kids to go to two different people? My daughter would go live with her dad, and my son would go live with my husband’s relatives. The Suze Orman will doesn’t have a place to specify this, at least not that I could see. So we just had them both going to my husband’s family and then made sure everyone knew our wishes. But still… would have been nice to just have that stated right in the will. There is all kinds of stuff like that. It’s not a simple, split everything evenly. My husband has his beneficiaries listed as me, and then if I’m dead, our son. Not our daughter. I have mine listed as my husband, then an even split between the kids. I think that is fair since my daughter would still have a parent if me and my husband were to both die. My son would not. But what if I die first? My husband would get everything, then if he died before he had a chance to change his beneficiaries my son would get everything, and my daughter would get nothing. Obviously not what I want. So how do we work that so that it’s fair in every set of possibilites? I think I just need a lawyer.
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13 Responses for "Creating Wills online"
I think you might have to consult an attorney. With blended families the legalities are hard. Especially because Suze Orman I doubt will have so much details.
Example, even if you say you want your daughter to go to your parents, her biological father if in good standing can challenge your will.
Second, you should talk to a lawyer about how to leave assets in trust for two different guardians of your children.
Third, if you just died, would your daughter’ father challenge your current husband for custody and how would assets be divided?
I think cookie cutter wills are great for people without blended families or difficult situations. Any extras I think are well worth consulting an attorney.
My parents are much older and yet like you have NO WILL. They have talked to a lawyer but are Unable to make up their minds what is a fair and equitable distribution of assets with 2nd marriages and multiple children/grandchildren.
I hope this made sense.
If I died my daughter would go to her father. No one is debating that. I don’t see why he (my ex) would get any of our assets. He would get social security for our daughter, just as I would if he died.
And this is why I went to tax work. It is a lot easier.
With a situation like yours, I would suggest a revokable living trust for you and your husband. You can specify in the trust who will inherit your money, your properties and children, and upon your death (or the death of your husband) your trust becomes locked. That is, your husband will still be able to control all of the assets if he is the beneficiary, but he can not simply take them all out and give them to his kids (current and/or future) while ignoring your daughter. Because she would be one of the beneficiaries of your trust, her portion would be locked up for her benefit. Likewise, should you die first, his trust would be locked and you would not be able to pull out all of the money to give to your children equally - your husband’s portion would be set aside just for your son.
A couple things to think about if you are using wills only though - if you pre-decease your husband, your daughter will be left with nothing. That is the way he’s setting it up. If you want to ensure her inheritance, you will either need to convince your husband to change his will to include her or you will have to put her as a co-beneficiary instead of a secondary beneficiary in your will. Also, assuming your daughter lives with you and has a relationship with your husband, you guys need to think about the psychological impact of having everything left to your son. I’ve seen it happen with friends where there is a fracture between brother and sister because of disparity in inheritances.
DH and I had trusts and wills done last month, and it cost us $1500. I think I read in a previous post somewhere that you are in the Phoenix area, so your cost shouldn’t be much more than mine here in Tucson. An attorney could explain it all better (obviously) than I can, but I think it would totally be worth the money.
Wow, this is just where I am. My ex passed away suddenly this summer at the age of 52. We have two sons together and their dad didn’t have a will. You cannot imagine the things his mother (who is 72) had to do to get access to his checking account, be able to get information on his mortgage and car loan, and to handle his affairs. What he left for his mother and children to deal with only made their loss greater. By the Grace of God, he did have life insurance and for that I am so grateful. But is will be a long time before his affairs are straightened out due to his lack of having a will in place. I am taking care of this now since I had one but no one would have known where it was. ::sigh:: I’ve used Legalzoom and haven’t had any problems but would gladly pay an attorney now rather than have my loved ones have to pay for it. My ex mother in law had to hire and attorney and it wasn’t cheap. Good topic and reminder for all of us!
Kim A
Ashley I hate to point out but why does your husband get everything and nothing for your daughter?
Did you bring nothing into your relatioship then? I ask because my mom only has me and if she died, I know that her very old will pre-marriage second time left everything to me, which included a house she bought as a single parent.
She still feels very strongly that assets are 50/50 for her and my dad. And if they died together that the other 3 kids do not get 25% of the whole estate.
Nor should they have claim on a house my mom owns that my grandmother lives in at all.
But I guess this is a reason to consult an attorney.
LAL: When I met my husband I had $2,000 in credit card debt and a car that had 100,000 miles on it. I suppose she could leave her some of that. haha… I’m just kidding. I see what your saying but no, I didn’t have anything when I got married.
I do see what your saying, even if I were to leave my daughter something right away I would put it aside for her for when she is older. Like 25. There’s no way my ex is getting his paws on it.
We’ll allow you to do wills for free with excellent customer service on Legal Onion for the first five people that email me.
You get what you paid for. That’s the bottom line. Attorneys are expensive, but they will create a will that not only will comply with the law but that it will also meet the needs of your situation. Standard forms are a no-no. Avoid them as much as you can.
[...] Creating Wills online - “Being a blended family really confuses things. If my husband and I were to die at the same time, is there a place in the will where I can state I want my kids to go to two different people? My daughter would go live with her dad, and my son would go live with my husband’s relatives.” [...]
[...] Creating Wills online - “Being a blended family really confuses things. If my husband and I were to die at the same time, is there a place in the will where I can state I want my kids to go to two different people? My daughter would go live with her dad, and my son would go live with my husband’s relatives.” [...]
I’d also recommend consulting an attorney. I think that a lot of the online programs are great for creating a general template, but in the end the peace of mind that comes with having it done by an attorney is worth it.
I am not sure if you and your husband may have this option, but my husband has a legal plan through work that he can opt into for a couple hundred dollars a year. One of the benefits of the legal plan is that they will assist you with your will for “free” (I put free in quotes b/c my husband has money taken out of every paycheck). We used the legal plan when closing on our house as well as setting up a will, and didn’t pay a dime. Good stuff!
Bottom line - If you’re creating a legal document (um…hello?? a will!!) see an attorney.
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