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Month: November 2016

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Get a Will at Walmart?

Bigstock-Young-man-holding-a-trash-bin--26453660[1]Legal services can be expensive, which leads many to seek out cheaper options than traditional attorneys. Now, some people can get a will in Walmart, but should they?

If you are reading this, then you probably know there are several services that allow you to purchase and download a form you can fill out to create a will. While doing that is cheaper than going to an estate planning attorney, it is also risky.

If the form is not correct or if you do not fill it out correctly, then chances are it will be very expensive for your family to handle your estate in probate and your wishes regarding what happens to your property might not be followed.

In some places, there is now an intermediate option between a downloadable form and an estate planning attorney according to KY3 News in "Now get a divorce, other legal services at Walmart."

Wills and other legal services are now available at three Walmart locations in Missouri. The company behind these new services, The Law Store, hopes to offer the services nationwide eventually.

It is not clear how good the wills are that are being made available, so they should not be dismissed out of hand.

However, the best way to get a will or other estate planning documents is still to contact an estate planning attorney directly. It may cost more now, but it will save money in the long run.

Reference: KY3 News (Oct. 14, 2016) "Now get a divorce, other legal services at Walmart."

 

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Is an Inheritance the Same Thing as Love?

Bigstock-Large-Mixed-Race-Family-2589417_(2)[1]Parents who are considering leaving their children unequal inheritances often struggle with the notion that those children will believe they are not loved equally as a result.

Parents have many good reasons for wanting to leave one child a larger inheritance than another child. The most common reasons are that one child needs the money more or that one child has been given more financial support than the other previously.

Recently, Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary discussed these reasons and others in an article. She receive some pushback from readers, which she discusses in another column reprinted in the Ventura County Star as "Michelle Singletary: Will does not equal parental love."

Singletary's readers pointed out that children who receive a lesser inheritance than others often come to believe that means their parents loved them less or that they have done something wrong.

Sometimes the unequal inheritances even lead to bitter family disputes.

Singletary responds with a plea to those who inherit less. She encourages them not to assume they were loved less by their parents, but to consider the valid reasons for inequality.

While that debate is interesting, there is another thing that needs to be pointed out. A lot of the problems unequal inheritances cause can be avoided. Parents can discuss their estate plans with their children before they pass away and let the children know why there is a disparity.

Consult a qualified estate planning attorney to help you through this delicate process.

Reference: Ventura County Star (Oct. 12, 2016) "Michelle Singletary: Will does not equal parental love."