My Internet Will/Trust Experiment Part 3: I choose what Documents I want
This is the third article in a continuing series in which I order estate planning documents from an internet document service to see their quality. When we last left our hero, I had just clicked on the link from the main page that said "Wills and Living Trusts," which took me to a page that gave me the following options:
Oy. I understand that there is some confusion in the term "Living Will" because it has the word Will in it. But my main complaint is and will continue to be is that it lets customers choose for themselves, without any discussion, thought, or review, what they need. I like to sit down with my clients and go through all of the options and explain to them what each document does, and then discuss each one in terms of the larger picture of their estate planning.
I decide to learn more about Living Trusts.
It's not a bad explanation. However, it doesn't talk about who needs and who doesn't need a Living Trust. And, it doesn't talk about the most important thing that you have to do with a Living Trust to avoid probate. You have to fund it properly. All of your assets have to be transferred into the Trust. Another thing I learned is that the Service is nowhere near as cheap as I thought it was. Here is their pricing for customers who decide that they need a living trust:
So I decide I'll order a Living Trust. Stay tuned. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Blog.
This is a great idea!
I agree with your comments and criticisms. I would also add that in the discussion of Living Trusts, they demonize the probate process, when such remarks are not true for all states. In many states the cost of probate is very minimal. And many states have simple procedures for small estates.
Also, many assets these days can avoid probate without a Trust, simply by using beneficiary designations or other methods.