Originally Posted by
tombailey
Anyone have any advice on creating a will (fairly simple finances [aka poor], but a kid to go to specific people - some overseas). Do I need a lawyer to do this or can I use legalzoom-esqe providers? Or can i just write it on a napkin and sign it?
If you've got enough money that it matters what happens to it, you should get a lawyer to do your will.
A simple will is not that difficult, but there are lots of ways to F' it up, many of which are not obvious.
For example, your will on a napkin might actually be accepted as a holographic will in many jursidictions, but add the signature of one, but not two witnesses and its no longer a holographich will, or a formal will, and it's invalid.
I'm an attorney. I took the Tax classes and Wills and Estates, in Law school that teach what you need to know to draft a will. I did our wills, using one of the providers like Legal Zoom for a form to work off of.
With the passage of time, I'm no longer comfortable that I can redo our wills without an inordinate amount of work checking things, or risk f'ng it up. So I'm going to pay someone to do the next ones.