Common Mistakes in DIY Estate Planning That You Can Avoid

With the ease of locating information of all types on the internet, it can be enticing to think that you can complete an estate plan on your own. There are various options for do-it-yourself or “DIY” estate planning, including downloadable forms and programs that can generate wills. Given that we are also in an age in which artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in new and rapidly expanding ways, some Georgia residents are even turning to AI to create estate planning documents. Yet the DIY approach to estate planning can be detrimental to you and to your family, often resulting in mistakes and misunderstandings of legal requirements in Georgia.

Even if you have what you believe are relatively simple estate planning needs, you will likely only have true peace of mind about the future by working with an experienced Norcross estate planning attorney. The following are common mistakes in DIY estate planning that you can avoid by working with a Georgia estate planning lawyer.

Missing Important Legal Requirements

Are you planning to create a will, a revocable living trust, health care power of attorney, or a durable financial power of attorney? There are specific requirements under Georgia law that must be met for all of these documents. Without meeting the specific statutory requirements, your documents may not be valid or enforceable. Even a minor error can render a document unenforceable, such as a will, and you could die intestate. If your will or other documents used to distribute assets to your loved ones is deemed unenforceable, Georgia’s intestate succession laws will likely apply, and only the parties named in Georgia’s intestacy laws will be eligible to inherit your assets.

Creating Essential Documents With Erroneous Forms 

There are many different forms online, as well as applications and services that offer to create essential estate planning documents for you — such as a will, a power of attorney, or your Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care. While these available and downloadable forms might look official, they may be older versions that have been updated or may simply contain errors because they have been generated by AI. You do not want to leave your personal health care needs and property distribution to forms that contain errors or that were created erroneously through AI tools.

Failing to Account for All of Your Estate Planning Needs 

Are you certain that you know about all of the documents and tools that are crucial to your estate plan? If you decide to do it yourself, you could forget or miss out on key documents or tools that can protect your health, property, and more in the future.

Contact a Gwinnett County Estate Planning Lawyer for Help with Your Georgia Estate Plan 

Attempting to create an estate plan on your own can be difficult, especially if you make even a minor error in the process. You should not leave something as critical as your estate plan to online forms and brief internet research that allows you to “do it yourself.” To ensure that you have all appropriate estate planning documents and tools in place, and that they have been completed according to the requirements of Georgia law, you should get in touch with an experienced Gwinnett County estate planning attorney at Bowman Law Firm today. Contact us to discuss your estate planning needs and to begin working on the wide range of documents and legal tools that you will need to complete your estate plan.

Source:

law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-53/