Recently had to go through the process of settling an estate for a friend who passed away without a will (intestate).

Made me realize I need to get out there and get a will created for myself.

Does anyone have any experience with simple online will creation?

Just want to get something simple documented so that none of my friends would have to go through what I just went through, just in case something were to happen to me.

I've heard doing it online is fine for simple estates (which is what I would call mine), but also not trying to cheap out if using an attorney is the smarter play.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Not legal advice, but if trying to prevent your friends from having headaches, probably worth giving the Ag that just offered possible assistance a call/message (or another lawyer) and not use an online one. Else, you may be setting up for more headaches. Kudos for thinking ahead.

Nm

sellthefarm said:

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Just go to an estate attorney and pay them $1,000 to make sure it's done correctly.

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I think ours was about $800 but I second this. I'm not sure the online ones are worth it if you have children

MAS444 said:

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Go to an experienced attorney if any kids and/or assets. It's worth it. Do not use on-line forms/services.

I'm an attorney (though not a probate attorney) and would not do this myself.

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Same & same advice.


I do litigation. And more often than not in business/contracts/probate, etc. disputes, it is because or made exponentially more expensive because someone was being cheap on the front end.

Any recs for someone in Houston area (preferably south-ish).

T dizl televizl said:

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Thanks for the advice everyone. I reached out to an attorney today to get this process started. In addition to a will I have some other estate planning I need done, so makes sense to use him for all of it.

Thanks again for the advice.

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He's going to ask you about hospital directives, DNR, etc. Do those too.

https://heirloomlegaltx.com/

Ogre09 said:

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Any recs for someone in Houston area (preferably south-ish).

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Piggybacking here

Any recommendations for an estate attorney in San Antonio?

I was very happy with Rapp and Krock. Emily Taylor specifically. Firm is full of Ags. They're in Houston (Galleria area).

SECond2noneAgs said:

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My free advice to every current or prospective client: Review the beneficiary designations on your bank accounts, investment accounts, insurance policies, and similar assets every few years, or anytime you experience a major life event (birth, death, marriage, divorce, etc.). Keeping these designations current ensures the right person can access funds quickly after your death, which makes things much easier for your loved ones. In many cases, the bulk of a person's assets never even pass through their estate or will, but instead go directly according to their beneficiary designations.

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Great advice and thanks for sharing it. Even though we've got a will, I've been spending the last couple of days working on updating our accounts and it's amazing how outdated some of the beneficiary designations are.

BenTheGoodAg said:

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SECond2noneAgs said:

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My free advice to every current or prospective client: Review the beneficiary designations on your bank accounts, investment accounts, insurance policies, and similar assets every few years, or anytime you experience a major life event (birth, death, marriage, divorce, etc.). Keeping these designations current ensures the right person can access funds quickly after your death, which makes things much easier for your loved ones. In many cases, the bulk of a person's assets never even pass through their estate or will, but instead go directly according to their beneficiary designations.

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Great advice and thanks for sharing it. Even though we've got a will, I've been spending the last couple of days working on updating our accounts and it's amazing how outdated some of the beneficiary designations are.

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Love to hear it.