Those of you who have been following this blog, know of my weariness against “DIY” estate planning services.   I believe using these services, such as Legal Zoom, for one’s own estate planning services - wills, trusts, power of attorneys, etc. - is just a recipe for disaster.  While I can understand why people who do not think they have complicated lives/estates might be drawn to purchasing “simple” documents at Wal-Mart prices, making one wrong choice could prove disastrous.  Even if the basic form is good (which I do not believe they are), it is highly unlikely a consumer would  complete them correctly.

It appears that the State Bar of North Carolina (Unauthorized Practice) and a few Missouri law firms agree!  Legal Zoom has been slapped with an amended class action petition on behalf of plaintiffs in Missouri  seeking refunds of all fees paid to Legal Zoom by Missouri consumers.  In addition, a suit has been filed by the North Carolina unlawful practice of law committee for the State Bar of North Carolina with a cease and desist letter.    Legal Zoom is aware of the suits and will apparently vigorously defend the claims. 
 
Just remember that fixing your plumbing or electricity may cause a problem that you can have fixed by a professional (provided you do not burn your house down), but most estate planning documents are not actually used until some dies or becomes incapacitated, when it is too late to make changes, and then if they are wrong or not coordinated properly with assets and beneficiary designations, the wrong person may make decisions or receive assets or the right person may receive assets at the wrong time.   I encourage everyone to go to an experienced estate planning lawyer, who is well versed in tax law, who drafts documents customized to each person’s situation, to make sure that your wishes and objectives will be translated into your estate planning documents.  
 
Stay tuned for more comments on these events.

I have spoken out many times against “Do-It-Yourself” estate planning services - most recently in an article for Boomer-Living.com entiled, ”The Dangers of DIY Wills and Trusts - Packaged Estate Planning Documents Are a Big No-No.”  From LegalZoom and Suze Orman’s Will & Trust Kit to LegacyWriter and Build-A-Will, there are no shortage of companies and products promising “customizable” wills and other estate planning documents – at “a tiny fraction of the cost of an estate planning attorney.” 

There are many flaws with this “one-size-fits-all” model for estate planning:  Laws change.  Laws also vary from state to state.  Most importantly, only a well-experienced professional who is current on the laws and your unique circumstances, can provide you with the kind of security and accuracy crucial to having a solid estate plan.  It’s one of those life choices in which you really will get what you pay for.

A simple story underscores why:

There is an old story about a factory which shut down due to an equipment failure.  The owner of the factory called a renowned expert to rush to the factory to get things moving. The owner told him, “This shutdown is costing us $100,000 per day!”  The expert arrived, walked around the faulty machine, then took out a screwdriver and adjusted a thing or two.  Within moments the machine came back to life and the factory began to hum with activity.  The owner was thrilled—until he was given a bill for $10,000.  He roared, “But it took you less than 10 minutes to fix the machine—it cannot possibly cost $10,000!”  The expert calmly responded, “No, it took me a lifetime to know exactly where and how to use that screwdriver.  The bill is $10,000—but the value to you is $100,000 per day.”