Do-it-yourself (DIY) estate planning may appeal to prospective clients because it feels quick, private, and inexpensive. By DIY estate planning, I mean not only handwritten wills and online templates, but also online attorney-supported platforms such as LegalZoom and Trust & Will. Bear in mind that attorney support is often a paid upgrade accompanied by an annual subscription fee for platforms like Trust & Will.
Estate planning attorneys must accept that DIY planning is a real option for prospective clients and will likely become even more attractive as artificial intelligence advances in the years to come.
For me personally, I understand the appeal. I have always been a frugal person, and I can easily envision myself considering DIY options if I were not an attorney. Several years ago, when my HVAC system failed and I was meeting with technicians about installing a new system, I felt completely overwhelmed and bewildered. I remember thinking to myself, this must be what clients feel like when they speak with attorneys. Everything was foreign to me, and if there had been a feasible DIY option available in that situation, I likely would have pursued it.
Likewise, for smaller household issues, I often turn to YouTube and attempt DIY solutions when practical. However, I also balance the risks against the potential cost savings. For example, I generally would not undertake significant DIY plumbing projects because the risk of leaving my family without water for several days outweighs the amount I would pay a professional plumber.
Accordingly, I do not begrudge or malign anyone who seeks a DIY estate planning option. To be honest, attorney-supported platforms may even make sense in certain limited situations. I do, however, believe that the risk is almost always too high for completely DIY options such as handwritten wills or generic online templates.
To be fair, most online attorney-supported platforms are unlikely to create fatal problems with the documents themselves. Many of these companies are sophisticated enough to produce documents that generally comply with state law, and their questionnaires can tailor provisions to certain client needs. Nevertheless, I believe there are three major differences between DIY estate planning and what I will call relationship-based estate planning:
- Evaluation of needs and attention to execution details
- Implementation and sophistication
- Relationship and ongoing support
Evaluation of Needs and Details in Execution
In my office, I provide clients with an optional estate planning questionnaire. In my opinion, it can be extremely helpful in improving efficiency during the planning process. It allows me to review information in advance and saves time on tedious tasks such as dictating names, addresses, family information, and asset details. It also encourages clients to think more thoroughly about their estate plan and creates a useful reference point for future discussions.
That said, even when clients complete the questionnaire, I almost always need to modify or clarify portions of the responses during our face-to-face meeting. A questionnaire simply cannot replace actual communication. Questions may be misunderstood, and no form can adequately account for the countless family dynamics and estate planning considerations that may ultimately need to be addressed.
During an estate planning conference, I ask clients to tell me about themselves and their families. The information gathered through these conversations often reveals nuances that would never appear in a form questionnaire, yet those nuances are frequently critical to proper estate planning.
Additionally, there are important details in the estate planning process that simply cannot be adequately addressed through DIY planning, even on attorney-supported platforms. Many of those details involve the proper execution of the documents themselves.
To my knowledge, no online estate planning platform provides adequate assistance with witnesses, a notary, and direct oversight of the execution ceremony. With very few exceptions, I personally oversee the execution of all estate planning documents in my office. Even in the rare circumstance where execution occurs elsewhere, I conduct a complete post-execution review to ensure there are no defects.
The execution of estate planning documents is every bit as important as the drafting of the documents, if not more so. While many online attorney-supported platforms may provide state compliant documents, I do not believe any of them can truly ensure proper execution.
The potential problems are numerous: improper witness selection, defective notarial certificates, issues with signatures or typed names, missing initials, improper sequencing, and a host of other technical glitches that could ultimately prevent the documents from being used or, at a minimum, make them more vulnerable to challenge.
Implementation and Sophistication
The second major void in DIY and online-platform estate planning involves implementation and strategic sophistication.
Quite simply, estate planning is about far more than preparing and signing state compliant documents. Effective estate planning also involves implementing the plan properly. This can include recording and storing documents, advising fiduciaries, coordinating with financial planners and tax advisors, reviewing beneficiary designations, and ensuring assets are titled appropriately.
Living trust-based estate plans, in particular, require careful analysis of assets and customized recommendations regarding trust funding. Proper beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and investment accounts are also a critical component of implementing a modern estate plan.
Similarly, transferring real estate and assigning business interests are nuanced and highly important aspects of estate planning that simply cannot be competently handled through a purely DIY process.
In fact, implementation failures are where I see some of the most common breakdowns in estate planning. One well-documented example is the failure to properly fund a trust. However, even that issue contains significant nuance. Not all assets should necessarily be transferred into a trust, depending on the type of trust and the overall planning strategy. Moreover, qualified retirement accounts require particular care because of their complex and ever-evolving tax and regulatory rules.
One notable example involved a probate matter I handled concerning a DIY trust and an attempt to transfer real estate into the trust. Unfortunately, because of issues involving the timing and recording of the deed, the transfer ultimately failed, and probate administration became necessary to address the property.
Lastly, any meaningful level of customization involving tax planning, asset protection, blended families, business succession, or special needs planning simply cannot be replicated through standardized DIY systems. Even with the annual subscription for attorney support at Trust & Will, the attorneys generally cannot draft custom legal provisions into the documents. Their role is typically limited to explaining the platform’s existing forms and answering general questions.
Relationship and Support
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is the relationship and support component of relationship-based estate planning.
In the modern era, estate planning has increasingly become a collaborative effort among legal, financial, and tax professionals. DIY estate planning can never fully emulate the coordinated strategic efforts among a client’s attorney, financial planner, and CPA working together to maximize legal, financial, and tax efficiency.
At the end of the day, your estate planning attorney is not merely a document preparer. Your attorney is a counselor and someone who should know you, understand your family, and appreciate your goals and concerns.
Ideally, your attorney is someone you can call when you read an article about tax law changes you do not fully understand, when you lose a loved one, when a marriage or relationship ends, when you start a new business, or when you welcome a new family member into the world.
Estate planning is not a one-time transaction. For many families, it is an ongoing relationship that evolves alongside life itself. DIY and online platforms simply cannot replicate the value of having a trusted advisor who understands both your legal documents and the broader context of your family and financial life.
Summary
All else being equal, relationship-based estate planning is the safest and most effective way to create and implement an estate plan.
Presumably, the primary reason many individuals choose DIY or online attorney-supported platforms is cost. There is no question that DIY and online platforms are often less expensive upfront than working directly with an estate planning attorney.
However, even for individuals with relatively modest estates, the long-term cost of mistakes, failed implementation, improper execution, probate complications, family disputes, or unintended tax consequences can greatly exceed the savings associated with DIY planning.
In many respects, estate planning is similar to insurance: its true value often becomes apparent only when something goes wrong. The challenge, of course, is that by the time problems are discovered in an estate plan, the person who created it is frequently no longer able to correct them.
For that reason, while DIY and online platforms may continue to grow in popularity and sophistication, I believe there will always remain substantial value in thoughtful, relationship-based estate planning guided by an experienced attorney.
Andrew M. Brower is a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning & Probate Law at Law Firm Carolinas, which has five offices and a statewide practice. For questions about estate planning and administration, wills and trusts, guardianships, or Medicaid/long-term care and asset protection, contact Law Firm Carolinas.