Wills - Why So Expensive??

Wow... I don't know the first thing about how much a will cost, but when I read $1500, that seems pretty pricey too me too.

They are very, very expensive. You want to do a revocable living trust/will. I love Suze, but this is what Clark Howard suggested on last weeks show:

www.nolo.com. (quicken willmaker plus)

K. -

I am a financial planner and I do work with estate lawyers on estate planning. Basically, unless you and your husband have basically nothing - then you do need much more than just a Suze Orman will. If you have no assets (no cars, house or life insurance, 401Ks, etc) and all you need is to designate guardianship then you can do something cheaper.

I would hope that this lawyer would talk to you about your estate planning. Choosing your brother as guardian (kids go to him) seems like a logical solution (it is normal to choose a family member that your children know). However, it is not recommended that the person who becomes guardian also becomes the trustee of your estate (money). That can create conflicts between other family members and also be used to hold over the children's heads themselves. It is highly recommended by both financial planners and estate lawyers that you chose someone other than your children's guardian to become the trustee of your estate.

There is a lot to do legally to create a trust for your estate - but if both you and your husband should die at the same time - then if you will leave any significant amount of money - it should be done. It is better for your children, their guardian and tax-wise makes a lot of sense. Since I am from Alexandria, I know that housing in Annandale might be expensive so the sale of your house could leave a nice sum of money and then if you both carry life insurance and have any at your jobs, you could easily have a $500K estate or more.

I would hope the lawyer is including in his price: a will for you, will for your husband, power of attorney for both of you, medical powers of attorney for both of you...

You may want to call back to find out what exactly is included. I would be happy to share what the estate attorney that we work with does at what price...

Cheers,
C.

A document is only as good as the words on it. What you are describing is not just a will, it is a will and a trust. I paid $1,200 for my will, trust, power of attorney and health care directive. It is actually cheaper to do them all at once because they each interlink with each other.

Yeah you can go online and perhaps most of the time that is good enough. The problem with that concept is most of the time they go uncontested. So pretty much you are gambling with your children's future. If it is contested chances are pretty good the online ones will not stand up in court. They are about as probing as Turbo Tax in with taxes. Great if there is nothing unusual about your situation.

I did not consider the expense unrealistic. It is my belief that I would rather spend the money now to ensure my kids don't lose everything if it actually ends up in court.

Yep - the national average billing rate is $284 per hour for a lawyer. So that's only about 5.5 hours of work. That will include the hour it takes them to file it at the courthouse and the time they spend talking to you, as well as the time to review the document and make sure all the wording is correct so that it can't be contested after you die.

We drew up our own based on ones we found online and then went to a notary public and had him sign multiple copies. We then gave signed copies to my sister (who'd get the kids and money) and my brother (the back up person listed. We also have on in our possession. It is worded so that we can have more children and it also works so we haven't had to redo it. No, I don't know if it is as "official" as something that costs $$$$ at a lawyer's office, but we feel good with it.

Wow ...I would call around to see if that's the average rate in your area. Everything in our area is expensive it seems, but it only cost me $300 through my local attorney.

Try another lawyer.

We have wills, living wills, and power of attorney set up with our lawyers, and the whole thing (including 2 codosils) was $500.

Hi! My Dad is an attorney who does wills, (we were lucky he did ours for free), and he said it really pays off to have a professional do it. He's seen so many badly done wills with these do it yourself forms that have caused many legal and tax problems for the heirs and surviving family. Is it really worth the risk to save some money now? My Dad told me (several years ago), that he charges about $500 for a standard will- so if you don't need anything fancy it sounds like you might want to shop around a little and talk to a few more attorneys.

Go to legalzoom.com I used them for our will and setting up our LLC and they are seriously amazing.. we set up the LLC like over a year ago and I can still call with any questions I have.. we're about to use them for trademarking too..

We are in the process of doing the Suze Orman one, and so far so good (although I admit I am no expert in such things.)

You should find another lawyer. I'm not in the DC area and I know things are more expensive there, but still - we are having ours done right now and for all the documents: will, living will, setting up a trust for our kids with a corporate trustee, emergency powers of attorney, and health care directive, we are paying less than $500 (I think it was going to be $250 for just the will, and once we added all the other documents the total was about $450).

When we asked our lawyer about price, she flat-out said that most lawyers in the estate field don't charge their normal hourly price to write wills, because then people wouldn't do it. They have a lower set price for the basics, and hope to establish you as a client for more complicated things that might come up later.

It's expensive BECAUSE you have children and want to "recommend" who will raise them in the event it is necessary (the court can actually disregard your wishes if they see it's in the best interest of the children) and that he will be in charge of their money. It may seem "simple" to you, but if it isn't done correctly someone could challenge his right to raise them or how the money is handled. Doing your own online version may not stand up in court, (it's happened many a time) so this is truly something you absolutely do not want to cut corners on.

We just did a similar will through LegalZoom.com for $79. It was really simple.

The will must be filed in a legal setting, so think court costs extra on top of the $29.99. If the wording is incorrect it can be thrown out, think attorneys know legalese. If it is not the correct form the county court house uses in your area it is pretty useless, again, attorney's went to college and took tests to be able to do this right, the first time, and it's legally binding in most cases even if it's contested.

I would say call around for a less expensive attorney or call the court house and see what it entails to have one filed, does it take a lot of paperwork, do you have to see a judge, can you just type up a letter and have them file it by paying a court cost fee, I think further research is a must at this point.

Because it's important. But really, if you call around you should be able to get a lower price. What you are describing isn't just a will though it's a revocable living trust too, which you absolutely need. That's the expensive part - naming a guardian is easy, it's setting up the financials so that your kids benefit from the proceeds of your estate that's complicated. To do it right should cost up to $1000.

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Because it's important. But really, if you call around you should be able to get a lower price. What you are describing isn't just a will though it's a revocable living trust too, which you absolutely need. That's the expensive part - naming a guardian is easy, it's setting up the financials so that your kids benefit from the proceeds of your estate that's complicated. To do it right should cost up to $1000.

There is a lot of work to put a will and trust together, that why it is so expensive. Also, many financial advisers recommend that the money is handled by someone other than the person who will be caring for your children.