How to Spend Too Much Money

How Spending $595.97 For a Cheap, Online Estate Plan Cost Joe’s Family More Than $4,385 And Almost Tore Them Apart

 

Online vs. Local:  Which Really Has the Best Value?

Joe got a local price on an estate plan, then after pricing around, decided he could do it online much cheaper and just as good.  So, Joe made an account on Speedy Legal Online, Inc.  He answered all the questions, printed out all the documents, filled out them out, and then signed them.  Since Joe didn’t have easy access to witnesses and a notary, he just got family to go with him to the bank to witness everything.

Then, a few years later, at the young age of 42, he had an unexpected, and debilitating stroke following a car accident.  Because of the stroke, his wife Wilma needed to take care of business and personal matters for him.

Wilma’s first business was to go to Joe’s employer and make a medical emergency withdrawal from his 401(k) to cover the medical expenses and cost of living.  But, Joe’s employer wouldn’t allow Wilma to even talk to them because his Durable Power of Attorney wasn’t filled out right.  Where he was supposed to initial, he had made check marks, invalidating the document.  Also, the employer wasn’t sure that the Durable Power of Attorney gave the right to make withdrawals from retirement accounts.

Joe’s Durable Medical Power of Attorney had been signed by witnesses related by blood who were also mentioned in his Last Will and Testament.  Doctors were reluctant to talk to his wife because of the questionable witnesses.

So, Wilma consulted with a local attorney.  What she heard shocked her.  Because the Durable Power of Attorney was not done right, it was mostly invalid.  Also, Wilma was floored when she found out the only thing she could do was pursue a guardianship over Joe in court since he was not currently competent to sign.

So, she handed over $1,800 (and a $185 filing fee) to the attorney to do what was supposed to be an uncontested guardianship.  However, Joe’s mother decided she should be the guardian over him and jumped into the proceeding, making it a contested guardianship.  Wilma had to pay another $2,400 in court costs to get the guardianship done.  $4,385 gone. $4,385 that they could not afford at the time.

The rift between Wilma and Joe’s mother would probably never be fully healed.  Not to mention the effect all the fighting had on Joe’s children, Wilma, and Joe’s mother.

The guardianship was limited in power, but Wilma could get the money the family desperately needed and work with the doctor’s treating Joe.

A full estate plan for a couple, including a Trust, Wills, Durable Powers of Attorney, Healthcare Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, and more would have cost Joe $3,000 to have done right the first time!

Joe realizes now that trying to save money up front can cost a lot of money and anguish later.  He knows that he should have engaged a local attorney that does estate planning every day to draw up his plan.

After Joe recovered, that is exactly what he did.  He found a local attorney that did estate planning every day and had his plan drawn up.  He knows now that everything was done correctly and he can rest easy knowing he has done everything for himself and his family that he can.  His financial house has been put in order.

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from DeWitt Law Firm, PLLC