Howard,

Trying to get our affairs in order in preparation for on the road living!  Are those forms that you can order on line from places like www.legacywriter.com legal?  We live in VA, and don't have very complex estates with which to deal.
Thank you.

Thanks for your reply, Howard – hopefully this discussion will help others as well.

It’s interesting (and infuriating) that when I search for online info as to regulations in my State (VA) regarding appropriate execution of legal documents, I am always told to seek the advice of an attorney. In my particular area, most attorneys charge no less than $500 per hour, and I don’t suspect our income level will qualify us for the opportunity to take advantage of legal aid assistance. ($500 = lots of campground fees!)

As you clarified, most online “boiler plate” fill in the blanks documents are perfectly legal, and it is simply the execution part that is in question. I did find a short statement regarding the legality of signatures, as copies below:

In Virginia, the signing of a will must generally be witnessed by two competent persons, who also must sign the will in front of the testator. (An exception to the witness requirement is made if the testator writes out the entire will in his or her own handwriting and signs and dates it.)
Although the law does not require a will to be notarized, it is a highly recommended practice followed by most lawyers. If the testator’s and witnesses’ signatures have been notarized, the will is presumed to be properly executed and is accepted by the court without testimony from the witnesses.

Therefore, I am assuming that if I have boiler plate will, power of attorney, living will, etc. documents notarized, I am meeting the requirements of my State, and saving a lot of unnecessary legal fees. But, I still can’t help feeling insecure!

This is not legal advice.  I am not your lawyer.  I advise that you see an attorney in your state.

However, I am an attorney who has practiced in four states, specializing in wills, trusts and estate administration. There is a joke among those of us who specialize in wills and estate administration, that all attorneys think they can write a will  -- and under the licensing they are correct.  However, that would be as reckless as someone like me, who rarely goes in a courtroom, volunteering to defend my neighbor on a criminal charge.   I have made far more in legal fees in cases where the decedent thought they would save money by "doing it themselves". (Consider nearly $30,000 in legal fees to settle an estate where the decedent wrote his own will and all of his estate was to pass to his only child.  It would have cost him less than $1000 to have had a professionally prepared will and the cost to settle his estate would have been minimal.  I think that he engaged in false economy.) A competent attorney does far more than merely fill in the blanks.  The attorney determines which type of will, etc. is appropriate for your situation. 

Yes, the on-line will may be perfectly legal -- but will it accomplish your objectives?  How will you know?  Many people think they have an simple estate but at in interview with a competent attorney discover that they do not.  One of my favorite examples is a will that says "if my spouse and children do not survive me, I give my estate to my brother's children" .  That may seem simple enough.  I know who my brother's children are.  However, if my brother is alive at my death my estate will have to remain open until my brother dies, maybe 30+ years later, because under the law he might have more children.

If your situation is truly quite simple, the costs of having your affairs put inorder will be reasonable. (And I practice in a very high-priced urban area.) If your situation is not as simple as you think, wouldn't you rather learn that upfront.

And by the way, the witnessing execution requirements are usually different for Wills, Living Wills, Heathcare Directives even within the same state.  What's a "competent" witness?  Can a family member witness?  Can a healthcare provider witness a Living Will? What's the proper notary jurat on each document?  What's the effect of selecting an Executor who doesn't live in your state?

-- Just my two cents worth.

Your "two cents worth" makes excellent sense. I suppose we'll just have to get our affairs in order properly, continuing to sleep nights in our stick house for a while, rather than being restless on the road! Thank you.

I guess you will get all kind of advice and related hear say. I offer the following as our experience and not as legal advice. Any will or trust will only be as good as the beneficiaries allow it to be. I can only say that we had a golf "buddy" friend (cpa) help make ours. We used a "Revocable Living Trust Agreement Kit" to prepare our own Living Trust Agreement. The finalized package was witnessed and notarized at our bank. The package was validated and recorded at the county clerks office, about 18 years ago. My wife has since passed and there was no problem. The Trust was self probated. The package included-- Revocable Living Trust Living will Power of Attorney Medical Power of Attorney Trusts are taxable entity unless the income is passed through to the beneficiaries. Trust take precedence over wills. Another thing to remember is the need for a medical directive/power of attorney in order to discuss medical info of other members of you family at Doctors/hospital. The kit we used was: S.J.T. Enterprises, Inc , 1-800-326-7419 Hope this is still a good No.