USA Today "Who needs to do will? You do"

This is the Friday, July 10, 2009 section, written by Christine Dugas.

I am a little behind on articles but I wanted to comment on this since I think it is well done and glad to see it covered in a large circulation newspaper.

The tag line under the title is descriptive: "Planning is crucial even if you don't have a lot." I don't want to restate the obvious since this tag line pretty much tells you the basis of the article but the article explains that no matter the size of your estate, planning for our demise is essential. If your estate is simple, it doesn't have to be a complex estate plan or expensive. "Simple" generally means you do not expect to pay estate taxes, you will be distributing your estate outright upon your death to all your heirs and no issues with children will disabilities, contesting your wishes and you or your partner do not have children from a prior marriage.

Everyone, no matter the size of the estate, needs to state who will inherit their property, who will be the executor (personal representative in Arizona), and naming guardians for the minor children. In all states, if you do not have a will, the legislators have drafted a default Will for you. I don't know how you feel about your state legislators creating your will but this thought will get most people into an attorney's office to document their own wishes and plans.

The article suggests that attorneys are not always necessary, and before you criticize me for disagreeing, which of course you knew I would, here are my reasons. In the article itself it mentions frequent errors in wills: lack of signatures, lost wills,, lack of specifics, choosing the wrong executor, and one they didn't mention and I see quite a bit is conflicting or unclear provisions in the will. By paying a little money in the front end, these issue can be avoided. When a prospective client is weighing whether to have an attorney draft their estate plan or do it themselves, I respond that I am okay with this since I either get paid now or your family will be paying me later.

My best,

Jim