Doing Your Own Estate Planning?

While you certainly can handle your own estate planning, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. After all, fixing an estate planning mistake can prove costly—and in some cases, errors can’t be fixed at all. What’s more, it’s all too easy to make a mistake that nobody even catches until after you’re deceased.

Reasons to Think Twice About DIY Estate Planning

What’s more, estate planning may not be as straightforward as you imagine. Your financial needs and your family situation may be fairly linear, but it’s just as likely that the opposite is true—that your finances are complex and your family dynamics multi-faceted.

The actual estate planning process is rarely simple, and there are very few instances in which simply making a will is sufficient. In most cases, we’d recommend establishing a trust in addition to a will—and that’s a bare minimum. While drafting a will is easy enough, establishing a trust is quite a bit more complex.

And then there is the possibility that you may miss something—that there could be an asset you overlook or a legal loophole you fall through. Even a small mistake in your estate planning could wreak havoc on your legacy and send your estate into a lengthy probate period—or else, cause its value to diminish. In either case, it’s your beneficiaries who will suffer the results.

Finally, it’s important to note that DIY estate planning can sometimes invite trouble—for instance, a lack of legal clarity that leads to division or contention between family members.

The best way to avoid these problems—to ensure estate planning that is clear and robust—is to work with a professional, who can make sure every box is checked and every legal resource is used.

Schedule a consultation with a Singh Law Firm estate planning attorney today and learn more about how to truly protect your legacy.