RCP

Comments:

• Sorry to hear you had this experience. Sadly, it confirms some fo the points was was hoping to make in the article.

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• Thanks for taking the time to read the article and comment!

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• These sites say they can create proper and enforceable documents, and I have no reason to think otherwise. The question is whether the documents can be properly tailored to your situation and in the end, accomplish what you intended. By the time they are used - when you are in a coma in a hospital, or after you have died - it is too late to learn that they are ineffective, or don't accomplish what you intended. In my view, if you have meaningful assets, complicated assets (such as real estate or a privately held business), blended families due to a prior spouse's death or divorce, etc., paying an attorney to get it right makes sense. Plus, many states have very precise rules about how a will is executed, such as requirements that the person in some way declare, in front of the witnesses, that this is their will, that all witnesses actually see the person sign the will (meaning as a practical matter that everyone needs to stay in the room the whole time), etc. If someone is unhappy with the will's disposition of property after death, screwing up on these "technical" requirements can lead to a claim to set the will aside.

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• Thanks for taking the time to read the article and comment. Your story about the 2 "Marys" is amazing. Do you know how it was resolved? I'm presuming that the insurance company paid the money into court (what is called an interpleader lawsuit) and let the Mary's fight it out between themselves.

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• Thanks for advocating folks seek competent legal advice!

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• Yes, documents written by lawyers can also fail. We are not infallible. But if the attorney fails to meet required professional competence, you might have a malpractice claim to recover any actual damages. If you screw up a legal matter on your own, you have no recourse.

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• The example may be "weak," but that is actually what happened. Don't assume people follow the directions given on how to fill out the documents or any requirements as to witnesses or notaries.

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• Thanks for your comments. I am aware of the waiver/consent issue regarding accounts covered by ERISA, but the opposing counsel, the attorney for the surviving spouse, never made any claims or arguments on whether ERISA affected her client's entitlement to the 401(k) account. If the other side's attorney is clueless, I have no duty to educate them. As you point out, yet another lesson to learn - chose the right attorney for the job.

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• Thanks for your comments. I am aware of the waiver/consent issue regarding accounts covered by ERISA, but the opposing counsel, the attorney for the surviving spouse, never made any claims or arguments on whether ERISA affected her client's entitlement to the 401(k) account. If the other side's attorney is clueless, I have no duty to educate them. Yet another lesson to learn - chose the right attorney for the job.

  Post: Case Closed

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023