Why do I Need an Attorney to do my Estate Plan?

That is an excellent question. As New Englanders we are fiercely independent and trace our heritage back to colonial farmers who were almost entirely self-sufficient. If something broke, they fixed it themselves. If they needed something, they made it. They were the first “Do It Yourselfers”. A drive thru the New England countryside past fields full of old cars, farm equipment, lawnmowers etc. shows that the spirit of the Do It Yourselfer is alive and well here. How many of us have hesitated to throw something away thinking “I might be able to use this or parts of it for something someday?” If that is you, then you are probably a Do It Yourselfer to some extent.

I am a Do It Yourselfer, so I completely understand this way of thinking. I also understand that I am surrounded by a lot of very competent, very smart people, who have often done a lot of reading – of blogs like this one and other estate planning materials published on the web – before they come to see me. When they come thru my door the question on their minds is the one stated above: “Why do I even need a lawyer to do my estate plan. Why can’t I just do it myself?”

Those are fair questions. As a DIY (Do It Yourself) person I would be asking the same questions if I were them. Here is how I answer those questions.

First a personal anecdote.

When I have a DIY project I often go to the web to see what instructions have been published there. There are even step by step videos for some DIY projects. But I know my limits. For instance, I could install a main electrical service panel for my house with instructions and videos found on the web. But I could never go to sleep in that house, and I certainly wouldn’t want my family sleeping there.

I once read an interesting article about why people seek out professional services. The article broke down the value of professional services into 4 categories: Knowledge, Process, Counseling and Advocacy. In my practice those categories break down as follows:

Knowledge is knowledge of the laws regarding estate and trust administration, estate tax law, income tax law, creditor’s rights, wills, trusts, powers of attorney etc.

Process is the ability to draft, create and implement the estate plan, and to put it into effect when necessary.

Counseling is understanding the aspects of a particular family that make it different from others and by the process of testing different plans and eliminating those that don’t feel right guiding them to a plan that suits their unique family.

Advocacy is the process of building safeguards into the plan that protect against the unique risks that every family faces. Some families may be facing a divorce, others creditors, sibling disputes, protection for a disabled person, dependency problems, spendthrift tendencies. There is almost always something that the family has concerns about and wants to prepare for and protect against. That is advocacy.

When I first started practicing law in the 80's, people would come to me for all 4 of these services. They did not have the knowledge or access to the process as a DIY project. There was no internet! In modern times they do have access to this knowledge and process – thru web based platforms such as legal Zoom - and when they arrive they already know the half or more of the knowledge I had planned to impart! And I thought I was so smart!!

But what the web based platforms will never offer is counseling and advocacy. There is no “one size fits all” estate plan, which is what web based platforms offer. One size fits all plans can lead to a lot of problems down the road.

When you are working with an experienced planner the process starts with an involved discussion of the advocacy needs of your family. There is no substitute for this. It's like doing a puzzle. There are steps. You dump out the pieces, then you flip them all right side up, then you start to examine them and then you put it all together. It takes time and personal interaction to get it together. After that is where the experience really comes in. An inexperienced planner might offer a one size fits all plan – even after all that preliminary work is said and done. An experienced planner, on the other hand, will have many options to choose from, having seen how well different plans worked or did not work in similar situations in the past. He (or she) will counsel you on choosing the one that is best.