Estate Planning

Drawing Wills is Personal Business

By Hull and Hull LLP

Drawing Wills is Personal Business

The October-November edition of the Canadian Bar Association's National Magazine http://www.cba.org/CBA/National/Main/ contains an interesting article on the virtues and drawbacks of a virtual law office. While it provides some helpful suggestions, wills lawyers and estate litigators both may find the following quote in the article somewhat problematic:

'The Web is perfect for people filing information on simple documents such as wills and estate plans, which are then reviewed by a full time, fully-certified lawyer. Not having to have our people collect this information in person reduces our costs, providing savings that we can pass onto our online clients through set fees. Everybody wins.'

We are often reminded by our insurer, LawPRO, http://www.practicepro.ca/default.asp of the importance of comprehensive notes and memos detailing our personal meetings with our wills clients, both when receiving instructions and attending to execution. http://www.practicepro.ca/LAWPROMag/WillDraftingErrors.pdf. These notes record everything from instructions and information regarding unique and relevant family dynamics to important observations regarding the testamentary capacity of our clients and the possible presence of undue influence. They can provide evidence that is valuable in resolving disputes among beneficiaries and may be useful to deflect claims against the estates of our clients. Comprehensive notes often lend critical assistance to the court as it works to discern and respect a testator's final expression of his freedom. 

It is often only through personal meetings with our wills clients that some of the most difficult questions can be asked and answered and some of the most painful, yet important, disclosures can be made by our clients. Surprising and crucial information often emerges out of a personal conversation with our wills clients that a web form just might fail to capture. 

Value may well be added and efficiencies gained where clients review and consider form documents on the web to provide general information to their lawyers concerning their wills. That said, in my view, one of the closing comments in the article that acknowledges that, 'There are …complex legal matters that demand in-person consultation and support from lawyers, that should never be delegated to an online web form' surely must include the complex legal task of drafting a will. 

Until tomorrow,

Julia M. Evans

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on November 16, 2010 (boomark / email).