The Necessity of Having a Will

To contact us Click HERE
Just how important is having a will?

Today I came across this article.  It touches on a personal discussion of two instances in one person’s life where a family member, for different reasons, elected to fore-go proper planning prior to their death.  The article omits a detailed discussion of the facts of each situation but as a probate attorney I can read between the lines and see that there was a lot of internal family turmoil created by this failure to plan.

The decision to sit down and write out your final wishes is an uncomfortable and sometimes painful experience.  It is important to remember that a client is either shouldering the pain themselves or they are reserving it for their loved ones after they pass.  But the necessity of having a will is incomparable. The planning, often times more than the assets, is the greatest gift you can leave your family because it helps bring about more rapid acceptance, direction and ultimately closure.  All too often ambiguity or uncertainty brings about family strife and discord.  The passing of a loved one is steeped with intense emotions and to couple that with the final disposition of “mom’s stuff” without guidance is difficult.  This difficulty is multiplied when there is a void in direction and all that is present is divergent opinions as to what mom would have wanted.  I have seen too many instances where stable family units have been weakened or destroyed by situations of this sort.

Are will's from online sources legitimate? 

I agree with the author of the article that obtaining a will does not have to be expensive.  I disagree with her suggestion of obtaining such planning documents from online resources.  The reason that I disagree on these points is not to protect my market share but rather because these online documents are drafted to be generally accepted across the country.  As such they are not state specific as to their language and details.  During my years with the Court I saw several of these instruments that were not eligible to be admitted for probate because they did not meet the statutory requirements here in Tennessee.  So, the warning is to travel at your own risk when you are attempting to use an online template for your Last Will and Testament, it very well may not be eligible in the State of Tennessee, or in many states for that matter, for simple deficiencies.