Has Anyone tried creating a Will with GivingDocs? (free for ACLU members)

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
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Jablean
Posts: 872
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2018 2:38 pm

Has Anyone tried creating a Will with GivingDocs? (free for ACLU members)

Post by Jablean »

So with my end of the year mail from organizations full of label sheets, holiday cards, or free gift incentives the ACLU letter included a link to GivingDocs for free Will preparation (good in all 50 states). Giving Docs appears to be a program that any non-profit can use - ie the non-profit pays for it and supporters get free access. No charitable giving or leaving them something in the Will is required other than, at least for ACLU, paying yearly dues and being a member.

Features include Will, Codicil, Power of Attorney, & Advanced Healthcare Directive. www.aclu.org/give/givingdocs22

As a DIYer it looks like I could use this instead of NOLO etc for free. Has anyone tried something like this? I'm thinking even if I only use it one time I could print it off and never log back in if I don't want to. Would I print it off and then just change names to do a Will for the spouse?

We've never done a will as most accounts have beneficiaries so it's only physical things like the cars and house. It all goes to the spouse or to the kid which matches up to what the state would do if we went intestate (without a will).
miket29
Posts: 1065
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2017 9:07 pm

Re: Has Anyone tried creating a Will with GivingDocs? (free for ACLU members)

Post by miket29 »

One side comment -- is the child you mention a minor? If so it's a good idea to have a will so that guardianship and other issues will be handled the way you want.
vas
Posts: 455
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2014 11:51 am

Re: Has Anyone tried creating a Will with GivingDocs? (free for ACLU members)

Post by vas »

Respectfully, I suggest that you ask another question such as "Should someone with a wife and child use the on-line DIY approach for estate planning?" If you were to ask that question, I would respond "No, you should hire an attorney that specializes in estate planning in your state of residence."

Why? Because this is a high stakes game, you only get one turn so you need to do it right the first time. You don't know what you don't know.

Who gets the old car is the least of your concerns.
“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken
djinn80
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2022 12:02 pm

Re: Has Anyone tried creating a Will with GivingDocs? (free for ACLU members)

Post by djinn80 »

Depending on how complicated your estate is, the DIY option may be just fine. I've created a will 2x with an attorney and most recently updated my will using Giving Docs and found it to work just as well as with my attorney. I loved the platform, very easy to use.

If you have children with special needs or an otherwise complicated estate (ie: lots of money / assets), you should contact an attorney as this will not cover you rneeds. But if it's straight forward (real estate, investments, etc) like mine, then the platform should work great for you.
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