Choosing Between an Online Will Service and a Lawyer: What’s Best for Your Estate Planning?

Can my will specify that my life insurance and other monies will be used to pay off my mortgage so that I can then leave my house to a family member or friend?

I work as a consultant in my own LLC, taxed as an S corporation, but have no employees. I live in sunny Florida. Outside of my business bank account, I think my finances are pretty simple and typical: a few retirement accounts, a primary residence, an investment property, a term life insurance policy. My husband and I have mortgages on two properties, but our main house should be paid off in about seven years.

I intend to leave everything to my husband, but would like my will to state that if he predeceases me, our estate will be divided among others in our families. My in-laws are moving in with us, so I would like them to inherit our house. We have no children but maintain very close relations with our nieces and nephews.

I appreciate any advice you have on writing a will.

Hoping it won’t be needed for a very long time

Dear Hope,

If you own a home, a business, and enough assets to pay off your mortgage, pay for the services of a lawyer. You can skimp on restaurant meals or take less vacations this year if you need to save some money, but don’t skimp on your willpower.

You should be able to find a lawyer capable of creating a last will for $300 to $500 and a power of attorney/living will for the same amount. The latter covers issues such as end-of-life care and what happens in the event of incapacity.

You can ask the executor to use your estate assets to pay off your mortgage, allowing you to leave the house free and clear to a third party. Everyone should have a will, even people between the ages of 20 and 30 or those who don’t have children.

Also, if you leave your entire estate to your husband – that is, everything you own that is treated as separate rather than communal property – he too will have to make a will, and his can. or not correspond to your wishes.

A person making a will or signing a power of attorney must be of sound mind – also known as “testamentary capacity” – and not be subject to duress, duress, fraud or undue influence. But the laws vary by state.

For example, in Pennsylvania, each spouse can write a separate will, but you can’t create a will that excludes your husband from any inheritance, according to Karen Ann Ulmer Attorneys at Law, which has offices in that state.

There are many uplifting stories of people who died without a will – like Prince and Michael Jackson – or decided to write a will online. A lawyer told me that a wealthy client wrote a will with an online service, but forgot to sign it.

If you die without a will or without a legal will — a will that isn’t notarized or has some other legal anomaly that invalidates it — it will be up to your state’s laws to decide who gets what, which could get messy if your husband dies before you.

And when you write a will, you should review it every three to five years. But it will still be many years before your executor has to take over.

Readers write to me with all sorts of dilemmas.

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The Moneyist regrets not being able to answer the questions individually.

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