Will writing, can you write your own will, can you write a DIY will?
Of course, you can, but…
Should you?
Let’s see why it isn’t so wise to write your own will.
The Harm of DIY
There are five main reasons not to write your own will, but before we run down the list, you might recall the saying credited to one William Osler, something about the doctor who treats himself has a fool for patient.
1. Write Your Own Will: The Cost
That the cost of writing your will should be a reason to write your will yourself is a red herring. The cost of writing your will writing depends on the nature of your estate and the composition of your beneficiaries. Your will should convey the use of your estate to generations yet unborn – this is a big responsibility that can’t be accomplished at no cost.
And the cost of a professionally written will is a one-off cost, which we could compare it with the cost of the device on which you’re watching this video. Shall we then agree that cost is nowt but a red herring?
By the way, the cost of doing it yourself is not nothing – you’ll spend a few hours on the internet, then you’ll buy a couple of books, you’ll study them. All the time that would take you.
And, time, is money.
You’ll then perform the task after learning from a book.
After no practice, zero examination and no experience.
So, shall we say this question of avoiding the cost of engaging a professional is a case of penny wise and pound foolish?
2. Write Your Own Will: They’ll Pay Inheritance Tax.
Inheritance tax is a punishment that would be visited upon future generations of your family if you committed the sin of failing to protect them from the tax. If you’re writing a DIY will, you’re by definition not planning to protect your family from the horror of inheritance tax.
3. Write Your Own Will: The Insult
When you write a DIY, you’ll by your action, insult two groups of people.
In the first, the reason you should write a will, the reason you should plan your inheritance is your duty to your family – remember Althea Gibson, that Champion at Wimbledon. Yes, it was before my time too, Miss Gibson said “No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you
To put it bluntly – your family, you owe them.
But you’re telling everybody, that this debt to your family is not worthy of you ensuring discharge it properly. You insult your family. You’re telling your family you don’t care, that’s insult number one.
Insult the second: You’re insulting yourself . You spread the idea, that you don’t hold the fruit of your life’s work in any great regard.
You’re telling everybody you don’t care.
3.Don’t Write Your Own Will: Transfer the Liability
By engaging a professional to write your will, for the relatively small fee you would transfer the responsibility. You’d transfer the responsibility to get things right to someone who knows his industry inside out.
A decent practitioner would be well informed of goings on in his industry. He would be able to advise you as such developments affect you.
4. Write Your Own Will: Intestacy and Court Cases
The greatest single cause of inheritance disputes is the DIY will.
With a DIY will, often the words on the page don’t quite match the intentions of the testator. This could lead to court fights, your will been rendered invalid, and your estate possibly subject to intestacy.
Your beneficiaries would therefore pay more in inheritance tax than they otherwise might have, and, if you are mightily misfortunate, your estate might end up in the hands of the Prince of Wales.
I wonder, where would the fruit of life’s work be more useful, in your family, or in the hands of the Prince of Wales, just wondering.
When a professional writes your will, the words on the papers would mean exactly what you mean, so your will would do exactly what you mean. Get a professional writes your will, therefore there’ll be no scope for interpretation, no room for ambiguity.
You know as George Eliot said: all meanings, we know, depend on the key of interpretation’
So, when you write your will the DIY way, and you almost certainly fail to write your words so they mean exactly as you wish, you’ll be leaving scope for ambiguity, interpretation and uncertainty – these construct the foundations of dispute – mountains of expensive nonsense.
So, you see the five reasons it would be fantastically foolish to write your own will:
We’ve seen in several different ways the foolishness of the DIY will.
You might remember I promised you a tool that would help you act on the knowledge you’ve gained from your eyes being opened to ill of a DIY will.
It’s a bit dispiriting, unproductive and inefficient to enter any situation unprepared – not knowing what questions to ask or what to look out for.
Therefore, when you choose a professional to write your will, you want to be prepared.
So, I have the thing for you.
I’ve been around so long, I wrote the book – no mere figure of speech, I wrote the book Maximum Inheritance.
Maximum Inheritance is a paperback book – none of this e-book nonsense. It’s a collection of anecdotes and thumbnail sketches that would give you a clear insight on how to create the will that’s perfect for you, make sure it’s valid, and that your money stays in your family forever.
To get your free copy, simply click the link in the description box below.
In sum, to write your own will is a case of penny wise, pound foolish