Do I need to do estate planning with an attorney?

Most people will benefit from a properly drafted estate plan. Even if a person has modest assets, the other documents created in the estate planning process, such as the durable power of attorney for financial matters, and the durable power of attorney for health care, are of great benefit in assisting a person's family in administering his or her affairs should he or she become ill or incapacitated. Beyond that, a will, or in many cases, a trust, is very helpful in creating an orderly way for assets to pass when someone dies.

As far as using an attorney is concerned, while it is true that many of the documents that an estate planning attorney will use can be found in very simple form in a bookstore or online, these documents, when used by a non-lawyer, will not be able to encompass the complexities of particular individual situations, and may contain \"boiler plate\" language that is not at all what the person intended. In addition, these forms may not even be valid in the state where the person using them resides.

Another Legal Resource: Elder Law & Estate Planning Check-up

Wondering how well-protected you might be with respect to estate planning or elder law?

If so, the answers to your questions are easily accessible on-line at no cost...

Continuing with the theme of our previous post (i.e., on-line legal resources), an easy-to-use tool you might find helpful is our "Elder Law & Estate Planning Check-up," which can be easily accessed on our web site.

If you'd like to take the free assessment, here are some instructions that might make it easier for you:

1. Follow the link to our web site
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page
3. Look for the ??? (question marks) on the right side
4. Click the "free on-line assessment" link