Quote:
Originally Posted by MacDaddy77
As long as you know who you want your estate directed to and if you have kids, who the caretaker will be after you die then the wills kit is sufficient.
Also you are looking at around $1000.00 at least for a lawer to draft a will for you
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Not necessarily. Different lawyers have different rates and different willls may be more or less complex.
Wills kits may be okay if your estate is completely uncomplicated, and you complete them correctly. Unfortunately, it is VERY easy to screw up the actual signing of a will and potentially make it invalid. Some kits have better instructions and templates than others, but a lawyer is definitely safer. You should also look at having an enduring power of attorney (EPA) created as part of your estate planning.
Even if a will does cost $1000, not having a will (or an invalid will) means that somebody has to hire a lawyer to go to court to get an administrator appointed, an that really will set you back a minimum of $2500 IMO.
Similarly if you don't have an EPA and something happens to you, you're probably looking at a minimum of a couple of thousand in legal fees to get a guardian/trustee appointed. EPA's are definitely nowhere near that cost.
I can give you a quote if you want to PM me.