Legal Zoom Wills Explained
A relatively new player in the do-it-yourself legal field is LegalZoom, which itself was founded in 2001 to enable consumers to access online the documents and services they need for common situations in work and life. One of those services that it offers is the ability to create a will. The LegalZoom website says its will drafting service, which it calls an "Estate Plan Bundle," allows consumers to draft a will and other essential estate-planning documents without having to pay an attorney hundreds of dollars. In addition to the will itself, LegalZoom asserts, the bundle includes a durable power of attorney, a living will and a certificate of trust. For just $69 , LegalZoom will prepare these four documents as a package.
LegalZoom’s product works by guiding users through a series of questions about their wishes and needs relative to each of the four documents. The process is performed entirely online, and everything is handled electronically. At the end, the documents are emailed to customers. They then must be printed out, signed, and notarized.
Some 1.5 million people have used LegalZoom’s services to create their wills or related estate-planning documents. Those that LegalZoom prepares are legally binding in every state with the exception of Louisiana (because of its unique civil law system).
Are LegalZoom Wills Valid?
Whether a will created through LegalZoom (specifically, our $69 Wills for the People) is legally valid is a question often asked of client services. People want to know if what they did online suffices. Whether it does or not has a lot to do with how it is done and the laws of your state.
In most states, our $69 Wills for the People is just as legally valid as a Will prepared by a lawyer, provided you meet certain conditions. You must be able to show that you properly executed the Will (signed it according to the state’s statutory requirements for doing so), that it reflects your own true wishes, and that you have the capacity to make such a Will at the point you sign it.
So, if the Will is properly signed in accordance with the registration page instructions (usually two witnesses, although the law varies), it is your genuine choice, and you were of mental capacity to understand what you were doing, then the Will would be valid in most states.
If you were under undue influence when you made the decision to do a will online or you don’t have capacity because of some medical issue or other impediment, your will could later be challenged by someone unhappy with the distribution of your estate.
This is also true if you don’t have two qualified witnesses (for example, a religious prohibition prevents you from having a non-member of the faith as a witness). It would also be true if you haven’t signed the Will for any reason other than what’s described in the above paragraph. You see the bottom of this post for more information about who can’t serve as a witness.
If you are unsure whether your Will is valid, you should consult with a local estate planning attorney.
State Requirements
Given the variance in state-specific legal requirements, it is critical that a will be executed in accordance with the laws of the testator’s state of residency. Failing to have a valid will could mean that your assets are distributed in ways that you never intended. However, not all states have clear statutory requirements for wills. Instead, some states have recognized the common law requirements that were universally accepted by the law, prior to the enactment of the Uniform Probate Code (UPC). The UPC simplifies the requirements for a will, and is still widely accepted by most states. However, not all states have adopted the UPC.
Some states, like California, have their own form of "statutory wills" that are valid if executed in the same manner as a formal, attorney-drafted, and notarized will. Some states allow wills and codicils that are signed in nonconformance with the typical execution requirements, including armed forces, handwritten, holographic, or non-notarized documents.
LegalZoom may not guarantee that a will will be valid in every state. Therefore it is important to determine if the will is able to be used in your state, and if it complies with your state’s requirements. In every state except Maine, Missouri, Colorado, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah, a will must be signed by the testator in front of two witnesses. In some states, like California, the witness also needs to sign an affidavit. That means that if a will is not signed in the presence of two witnesses, it may not be considered valid by the court. Changes to inheritance laws vary by state, so if you do not ensure that all requirements are met, your heirs may end up with less than you had hoped for.
Potential Issues With Legal Zoom Wills
Some of the most common issues that people run into with their LegalZoom wills stem from the site’s automated software. This automated feature can lead to a mismatch between the person executing the will and the state where the will is executed. For example, a document may be prepared in Florida with specific references to Florida wills and estate laws but executed in New York. In this scenario, there may be a question as to whether the will properly reflects the laws of the state of execution, particularly if the estate is substantial enough to involve disputes or litigation.
Wills prepared through legal websites also often require witnesses, an executor and an estate administrator, as well as providing space for a notary’s signature. These aspects of a will are important because if one of the naming people/statistics is not clear, or if the will does not comply with the execution and notary requirements of the state, the will may be deemed valid . LegalZoom provides reference materials and filing instructions, but sometimes poor execution can cause problems later on. In some cases, legal websites like LegalZoom can be the subject of lawsuits for practice law without an attorney, as they are writing wills, divorces and other legal documents.
Because LegalZoom is simply a software program programming by lawyers, the quality of the will depends on the questions asked and the answers provided. In some cases, this information may not identify certain variables or nuances that need to be included in the will. This may lead to a will that does not reflect the wishes of the individual making the will, or what the individual wanted to communicate. If certain variables are not asked, such as a special needs child, the will may contain a general statement that no provision is made for a certain child, when in fact this may not be the case.
Expert Consensus on Legal Zoom Wills
Industry experts have offered a range of opinions on the usage and efficacy of LegalZoom to produce documents like wills. While some legal professionals like James McDonald, senior estate planning lawyer for Law & McDonald, have said that the use of such online platforms as LegalZoom "doesn’t make a will valid," others have noted that, legally speaking, it’s no different than creating a will in consultation with a lawyer. According to Angela Robinson, who has worked as a lawyer in the areas of tax, real estate, and others in Florida for now for over 13 years, "That is really no different than people going through a will kit, a form, without [any] legal advice." She notes that while no one can be sure that a will created with the aid of LegalZoom will hold up in court, the fact that you have all the information that you need to create a workable will means that most of the time professionals can sort out a few problems associated with the document and make it work. Robinson goes on to say, "The bottom line is that at least you’re going to get started in the right direction and we can fix 99.9% of the rest." McDonald, like Robinson, notes that even if there is any issue with using LegalZoom to create a will, attorneys that work in the field would have the ability to resolve that issue in most cases.
Options Other Than Legal Zoom Wills
Aside from LegalZoom, there are a handful of trustworthy websites that provide services similar to LegalZoom: Nibplan offers a free online document assembly service, where users can create a variety of documents, including wills, trusts, and divorce papers, by answering a series of questions. The platform provides the documents for free, but imposes a fee on users who require the documents to be notarized. WILLing.co allows online users to create simple wills easily and quickly, for a fee. After following a step-by-step process and paying a small fee, users are given access to the document. Additionally, an estate planning attorney will then contact the user to review the document . Doctle is another document assembly service, though it only offers subject specific documents. For example, it offers an wills package to create a will and a power of attorney completed for all 50 states at the cost of $10. While these companies will create wills for users, they come at a price nearly on par with LegalZoom by charging fees. As such, these services are not necessarily any more cost-effective than LegalZoom. Alternatively, an estate planning attorney can also draft a will. While this will be the most expensive option out of all of those provided, it will wind up being the most comprehensive option. Estate planning attorneys can examine your individual situation and intricacies to create a unique plan for you.