In today’s world, the use of technology and the internet are ubiquitous. Whether it be personal and business communication via email, socializing on online media platforms like Facebook, or inquiring about our world with the help of Google or A.I., the basics of human life are becoming more and more inescapably interwoven with the use of the internet. Although the internet has become integral to modern human life, online estate planning is entirely insufficient when it comes to planning for our deaths.
In 2001, online estate planning first became an option for those people who wanted to save time and money when drafting a will or other legal documents. Since that time, it has grown in popularity and now many believe they can act as their own attorney when planning for their deaths. Unfortunately, these people “don’t know what they don’t know” and are often victims of the Dunning-Kruger effect.1 As a result, they often end up with a short-sighted and seriously lacking “estate plan.” So, when Murphy’s law kicks in and the things that can go wrong do go wrong, it becomes clear that their so-called estate plan fails to secure the ends they had intended to achieve. What they would have wanted had they known tci even think that far ahead and plan accordingly-will not be realized. Ultimately, as a result, they got what they paid for and the ones they care about are the ones left holding the bag.
The truth is that estate planning is far more complex than an online resource would lead you to believe. Answering five or six questions about who is going to receive your assets when you die and who will be in charge of the distribution of your assets is simply not enough to create a plan for your estate when you pass. There are significant issues that need to be addressed during your estate planning. For instance: do you have life insurance? Is it enough? Is it the right kind for you? Are you preparing for retirement? Do you have IRAs or 401(k)s in place? Will those be sufficient to cover your needs in retirement? Who are the beneficiaries of those? Who should be the beneficiaries of those and in what manner should they receive those funds? Do you have or potentially have a minor as a beneficiary? Do you have a disabled beneficiary? How do you plan for the possibility of a disabled or incapacitated beneficiary? How do you protect your assets from the costs of long-term care or avoid burdensome and unnecessary taxes? How do you make the process of administering your estate as smooth as possible for those you leave behind? Who are the right people to implement your plan and how is that impacted by changes in circumstances not yet thought about? These are just some of the issues and questions that are vital to creating a valid and sound estate plan.
As I explain to my clients, an estate plan is far more than drafting a Will. It is the intersection of your legal and your financial world, during life and after death. A real plan, by its very nature, requires a beginning and an end, and an outcome that is based on thought out goals in the context of a plethora of different possible circumstances and contingencies-not mere hopes and wishes scrawled across 8.5″ x 11″ paper. What is lacking with online based estate planning is the keen eye of an experienced attorney who has encountered hundreds, if not thousands, of scenarios that would allow them to develop a plan that is unique to the individual. The online system simply cannot replace the experience, skill, and foresight an estate planning attorney can provide nor can it account for family dynamics, strengths and weaknesses of children or other relatives, etc. at play. While I cannot wholly discount the basic need for this online resource, as generally something is better than nothing, I strongly encourage and suggest that anyone who is serious about creating an estate plan should develop one with the aid of experienced legal counsel.
Although online estate planning is seen as faster and easier, when attorneys in our office meet with a client to create a plan, we make it as convenient and efficient as possible, particularly for those who are still working or have young children. We often use tools like Zoom, Teams, or even the telephone to meet with our clients, and we regularly work after hours or early in the morning to give those busy clients the time to confer with us about their estate plan in the context of their other responsibilities.
In sum, while it may be slightly more expensive to use an estate planning attorney rather than an online resource, the feedback, the level of planning, and the technical legal competence is so much better, that it is worth the few hundred dollars more to get it right.