Use an expert planning lawyer now or your family will need good litigators later

The title of this article says it all. I wish I could make more people understand that wills are not "fill-in-the-blank" documents where you just type in someone's name. Yes, I do realize that some people's affairs are very simple and a do-it-yourself will is probably just fine. The problem is that people often - no, ALWAYS - believe their affairs to be simple, even when they're not. Just because it makes sense to you doesn't mean the law agrees with you or that you can get your wishes across in writing.

When I have meetings with clients to do will planning, the two comments I hear the most often are "I didn't know that" and "I'm glad I found out about this before it was too late". I bet those comments are heard by all estate planning lawyers. Ever wonder what it is that people are so glad to hear?

To read this article by Marc Weisman of the Toronto law firm of Torkin Manes, click here. In one part, it gets a bit technical about the words "per stirpes", but I think that's fine; if you have those words in your will, you might just as well see the confusion that can arise.