subject: Can I Prepare My Own Last Will And Testament Without The Help Of An Attorney? [print this page] The question seems to come up often as individuals ask whether they really need an attorney to prepare their Last Will and Testament or can they just prepare it themselves. Well the answer to this question is actually that you can prepare your own will if you like, however, you will be at risk of two things. First of all, if you prepare your own Last Will and Testament then what will happen is that because you lack the experience and educational background in estate planning you may make a mistake that may be quite costly in the future. Essentially, because of the average person's inexperience if a mistake is made on the Will then what this will do is that your beneficiaries and heirs may need to battle it out in probate court in order to really get what they think they are entitled to. Thus this will lead to litigation and high legal costs that could have easily been avoided.
The other issue is that if the person decides to forgo the services of an attorney they may be missing out on utilizing some estate planning tax strategies that will greatly help to reduce their tax. When an individual passes on their estate is actually subject to estate taxes and depending on the size of the estate these taxes can be quite high. In certain situations if you leave everything to you spouse upon your passing then your spouse will not be subject to paying the tax. However, your children or any other beneficiary will be subject to the estate tax. By using an attorney to construct your Will you can rest assured that they will be using the latest provisions in the field of tax law in order to increase your tax savings and reduce your tax liability up your death.
