If there’s anything worse than a do-it-yourself will, it’s one written in a rush.
I understand the money-saving draw of will kits – a longtime staple at stationers across the country – and their modern digital equivalents, available as downloadable online forms.
However, the practical reality is that a DIY will almost always ends up costing your beneficiaries more money in the long run as they try to disentangle your real intentions from the errors and omissions that inevitably arise without the benefit of legal advice.
In many cases, estate litigation is required to sort out the confusion, eating into the value of the estate and depleting the assets available to their intended heirs in the process.
That’s what happened in one recent case, involving the surviving family of a 92-year-old who died in 2023, more than a decade after he executed a will using a stationer’s template, on the eve of an international trip.
The opening line of the document stated that “in the event of my death and my wife’s death” during their month-long Florida vacation, one the couple’s three sons would receive half of their Vancouver condo, before going on to instruct that the rest of the estate was to be equally divided between all three sons.
Because the parents ultimately survived the trip, it was unclear whether the instructions regarding the rest of the estate were only supposed to kick in if they died in Florida. If so, that created the possibility that the deceased’s estate should pass on an intestacy.
Ultimately, the judge decided that the instructions regarding the division of the estate were not contingent on the testator’s death in Florida, but not before awarding costs out of the estate to both the applicant and the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, which was representing the interests of the deceased’s 92-year-old wife.
The parties in this case don’t seem to have any animosity – neither side took a position on the correct interpretation, leaving it up to the judge to decide. Still, as soon as the court has to get involved, it adds a layer of unnecessary expense and delay that could all have been avoided with a little more clarity in the language of the will.
Other common mistakes made by DIYers include the failure to ensure the document is properly signed and witnessed or the appointment of an inappropriate estate trustee. In some cases, the errors could even invalidate the whole document, resulting in intestacy.
In addition to making sure your will accurately reflects your wishes, lawyers can help to minimize the tax burden on the estate and talk you through the role of executor to ensure you pick the right person for that crucial job.
The more complicated and valuable your assets are, the more essential it is to obtain sound legal advice before finalizing an estate plan.
Disclaimer: The content on this website is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice or an opinion of any kind. Users of this website are advised to seek specific legal advice by contacting members of Laredo Law (or their own legal counsel) regarding any specific legal issues.
