Pros and Cons of doing your own Will for free.
You may think that ahhhhaaa, why waste my time and money to engage a professional Will writer when I can just do it myself either by writing in a free Will template form found online or I can use services provided for free e.g OCBC Will generator. So here’s why:
The most obvious advantages of making a last will via a do it yourself will kit are time and money—at least in the present. Creating a last will online can cost less than getting an attorney involved in the will-writing process, and an online will service can allow a person to make a will in mere minutes.
Those who can benefit most from DIY wills are people with a relatively small estate (a value that doesn’t reach the level of being subject to estate taxes) and no minor children.
But for the Cons:
Even the pros listed above could have potential cons attached in the future, however. The money you save now as you create a last will online could end up costing your estate and/or your heirs money later if the will isn’t valid or its validity ends up being contested because it wasn’t written well enough to withstand objections.
And the same goes for time. Probating your estate—and distributing assets to your heirs—could end up taking a lot longer than it has to if the will wasn’t executed properly or otherwise has problems that must be resolved by the probate court.
Remember that state laws regarding will execution vary greatly, and some DIY will sites may not take that into consideration when preparing your last will. Some jurisdictions, for example, require a certain number of witnesses present at the will’s signing and/or the seal of a notary public.
DIY wills can also fail to take into account specific estate planning needs such as avoiding potential estate taxes, and may not fully contemplate the needs of minor children, if you have any. Blended families or those with children from a previous relationship may also find that DIY will forms do not adequately cover your concerns.
So before going straight to using DIY Will generator thinking that people must be stupid enough to pay money to get it done when I can just do it for free, what a genius am I. Think twice, you may be at the losing end at the end of the day, or should I say, your family will be at the losing end after you are gone.
Finance 