Don’t Use Templates – Why You Need an Expert to Draft your Last Will and Testament

A Phoenix last will and testament is the most important document for your estate, and it needs to be prepared correctly and accurately to ensure that your wishes are followed exactly the way that you intended. When planning your estate and deciding on how your Phoenix last will and testament should be created, you might be tempted to use a template to save time. But in the vast majority of cases, using a template for your Phoenix last will and testament is a bad idea that might result in problems and conflicts when your estate is distributed.

Every estate has its own unique requirements

Most estate planning experts recommend that you don’t try to write your own Phoenix last will and testament because there is simply no template that can possible match every unique estate’s needs. Phoenix last will and testament templates are designed to be quite generic and cover only the basics. Your estate’s unique assets need to be properly addressed in your will, and a Phoenix last will and testament template cannot offer that.

Most templates come with a disclaimer – which should be a red flag

A disclaimer for a Phoenix last will and testament template should be a red flag, because it means that the creator of the document does not want to be held legally liable for legal issues with the template. It goes to show that Phoenix last will and testament templates cannot possibly meet the unique requirements of every person’s estate and can result in estate tax problems or other legal issues down the road.

State laws must be considered

Templates do not consider the estate tax laws that are quite different from one state to another. Templates are designed to be as basic as possible so that they match estate laws in all 50 states. A Phoenix estate planning professional will know the exact laws that need to be addressed in your Phoenix last will and testament and ensure that it meets all of Arizona’s unique estate law requirements. It’s always better to hire a professional to draft your Phoenix last will and testament to ensure that it complies with the Arizona’s laws rather than risk overlooking something or making a mistake with a generic template.

Need Help?

If you are not sure as to what legal document you currently have contact one of our professionals to help you with your planning needs. They will make sure you have all of your grounds covered and have the right legal documents that best suite your wants and needs.