Stewardship Well Done Journey

Step 3 – Essential Documents

Roadblock #3 – Can’t I Just Do a Quick Will Online?

We will admit it … internet wills have come a long way. Some of the early wills done online gave trained legal professionals severe heartburn … or caused them to laugh out loud! But online wills have vastly improved and for a small percentage of people, they may work. But how do you know if you are in that small percentage? How will you know if you made a mistake or if the data you input was sufficient to create an enforceable document? For these reasons and more, we do not recommend you use an online service for your essential documents.

Let’s say you do a will online and leave everything to your son, John. Sounds pretty easy, right? But what happens if John predeceases you? What if John has special needs? What if John is still a minor? What if John dies at the same time you do? What if you also have a son, David, whom you didn’t mention because you didn’t want to leave anything to him? Does David have any right to what you left for John? A simple situation can quickly become complex depending on what you DO say and DON’T say in your documents.

When attorneys draft your documents, they bring all their years of experience and expertise to your specific situation. They help you clearly express your wishes while also helping you and your heirs avoid common pitfalls and unnecessary court involvement. They know what language works and what language doesn’t work. Experience tells us that paying an attorney to have your documents properly prepared is much less expensive than paying an attorney to fix the mistakes made by drafting your own documents.

FMF Financial Services works with attorneys who specialize in estate matters (wills, trusts, probate, administration, etc.) and have drafted hundreds of documents. They share your belief system and are ministry-minded persons of integrity and character who will serve as your advocate, advisor and counselor. You will not need to question their competency or their motives. They are always looking out for your best interests, not their own (or their wallet!). And because they believe in the ministry of FMF Financial Services, they do so at significantly discounted rates. Essentially, for what you might pay online, you get all the benefits of involving an attorney.

If you are ready to begin the conversation about essential documents, please contact us today.