What Are The Pitfalls of Attempting To Craft Your Own Estate Planning Documents?

There are pitfalls in attempting to craft your own estate planning documents. It’s always a good idea to have an experienced attorney prepare your documents or review the ones you did in another state. Rather than streamlining or simplifying matters, insufficient or out of date estate planning documents can lead to more complicated and expensive solutions for any number of needs or issues that may arise later.

For example, if a person decides to do their own will without an attorney, they could be setting up the need for a complicated process after their death. When the person who did the will dies, their personal representative will most likely still need to retain an attorney to represent them and navigate the probate process. However, because the will was not done by an experienced attorney, the attorney who is consulted may have to inform the personal representative that the will does not comply with Florida law, and may not be admissible in probate court, or may become admissible only after completing certain additional, time-consuming steps.

Also, every state has different laws regarding powers of attorney, health care surrogates and living wills, and therefore, documents prepared out of state may not work in Florida. Again, having an experienced Florida attorney review your out of state (or self-prepared) documents, is a wise and prudent thing to do.

For more information on Pitfalls Of Trying To Craft Your Own Estate Plan, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (352) 369-0664 today.

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