Financial Estate Planning

ExpatLegalWills.com is dedicated to providing services related to advance directives, including the creation of financial and estate planning documents such as wills (Last Will and Testament), Expatriate Wills, Living Wills and Power of Attorney.  Below are some questions and answers related to financial estate planning.

What is estate planning?

Estate planning is a lifelong process in which you evaluate your situation and plan for the future. It includes planning for your retirement, for the possibility of disability, and for death. The estate planning process requires that you consider a wide range of legal, financial, emotional, and logistical issues.  Proper estate planning will also allow you to minimize estate taxes and death taxes.

Estate planning can be a positive experience, since it involves reviewing your situation and planning for your future. Although most people also find it unpleasant to think about the possibility of disability or death, advance planning is also a way to show your love and to reduce potential distress later.

Because every person's situation is unique, there is no single "checklist" to follow for estate planning. Proper estate planning also includes financial planning.

Why do I need a will?

The vast majority of people do not have a Will.  Some people feel that they do not need one because they believe that the distribution of their estate is obvious.  Others find it to be too time consuming to get organized, find a lawyer, arrange appointments and attend meetings during their already busy schedules.  Many feel that the lawyers' fees surrounding the creation and maintenance of a Will are too expensive. 

Whatever your reason may be, you should know that it is extremely important that you have an up to date Will.  If you die without a Will, the courts will decide how your estate is distributed, and this may not be in the best interests of your loved ones.  It is impossible for us to know how your estate will be distributed, but we do know that if you have a Will, then the decisions are in your hands.

How do I create a will?

At ExpatLegalWills.com we have removed the obstacles to writing a Will.  It is convenient, low cost, and simple.  The MyWill™ service will step you through a series of questions in a "wizard" format.  All questions are written in plain language, so you don't have to be a legal expert to create your own Will.  You simply answer the questions, complete the details, and we automatically and instantly format a document that forms the basis of a legal Will, custom-made for your local jurisdiction.  This can then be printed and signed in front of witnesses to become a legally binding document.  (In the future, we plan to allow you to sign your Will online using a secure digital signature, once this becomes a legally recognized method of signing a Will.)  There is also plenty of supplementary information to help answer all of your questions.

Furthermore, we allow your Will to be kept securely online at ExpatLegalWills.com so that you can make unlimited updates for as long as you are a member here.  For example, if you have a significant change in your life you can revoke your previous Wills and create a new, dated, version.  If you have children, make a significant purchase, move houses, or get a pet --- all of your revised wishes can be captured in a new version of your Will.  Not only will you have a legal document, but it will always be kept up to date.

Who will care for our children?

All parents worry about what would happen to their children if both parents died. This concern draws many people to lawyers' offices to start the estate planning process. If one parent dies or becomes incapacitated, then usually the surviving parent will retain sole custody of any children, unless special circumstances exist. If both parents die, then usually there must be a court action to appoint a legal guardian for the children.

In such a proceeding, the court will always look first to the desires of the parents, preferably expressed in a will. The court is required to appoint a nominated person as guardian unless this would not be in the best interests of the child.

What is probate?

In a probate proceeding, the court oversees the process of identifying the deceased person's property, paying any debts, identifying the proper heirs, and distributing the property to them. Most of the actual work is done by an executor (usually a relative or friend of the deceased person), with the assistance of an attorney and often an accountant. Not all of a deceased person's property is subject to the probate process. Life insurance, retirement accounts, and "joint tenancy" property all pass directly to the appropriate beneficiary automatically, without any court confirmation. If the person created a "living trust" any property held in the trust is not subject to probate. A bank account or motor vehicle title may also specify a death beneficiary.

What is a Power of Attorney?

What if you were in a coma, or otherwise incapacitated such that you were unable to communicate?  Or struck with a disease or other tragedy which affected your mind?  Who should control your finances, or your assets?  A Power of Attorney document ensures that your wishes in these and other unexpected circumstances are heard, understood, and carried out to your specifications.

There are actually a few different types of Power of Attorney:

A "General Power of Attorney" is the authorization for another person to act on your behalf for legal, financial or business matters.  You may do this, for example, if you have emigrated and have ongoing legal or business matters to attend to.  In this case, it may be convenient to have an authorized person sign documents on your behalf.

A "Durable Power of Attorney" has the same authorization, but the powers continue to be effective even if you become mentally incapacitated or incompetent for any reason.  Of course, you must be competent before the Durable Power of Attorney is set up.  You can also set up a Durable Power of Attorney to only come into effect if or when you become mentally incompetent.

You can also create a "Power of Attorney for Healthcare" or "Advance Health Care Directive".  This gives the authority to a loved one to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.  For example, if you are critically ill a Power of Attorney for Healthcare could dictate whether or not you should receive life-sustaining treatment or medication.

How do I create a Power of Attorney?

You can create each of the above types of Power of Attorney, using the MyPowerOfAttorney™ and MyLivingWill™ services here at ExpatLegalWills.com.  A simple wizard will lead you through the series of questions which need to be answered.  After you have completed the wizard, your answers will be formatted to form the basis of a legal Power of Attorney or Living Will document, which can then be printed, signed and witnessed.

View Descriptions of our Services
View Descriptions of our Services
Go to the Home Page
Go to the Home Page

How It Works

When you create a Will or legal document at LegalWills, you can designate up to 20 different Keyholders®. Your chosen Keyholders® will be given the trust and power to unlock specific information within your account such as health care directives, funeral wishes, final messages, uploaded files, Power of Attorney, or Last Will and Testament.

You can also implement security mechanisms to prevent premature access to these documents. The entire process of creating your Will and other legal documents at LegalWills is seamless and iterative, meaning you can continue to make changes until you're happy with the final product.
Click. Print. Sign.

It's really that easy.

ExpatLegalWills.com Scales Logo

Create Your Documents in Five Easy Steps

file
Create Your Documents

Creating your documents is quick and easy with LegalWills. Simply fill out the required fields and proceed to the next step.

key
Select Your Keyholders®

Entrust up to 20 individuals to unlock your wishes when the time is right.

pencil
Edit Your Documents for Up To One Year for Free

Make any changes to your documents using our online service.

lock
Keyholders® Request Access

When the time is right, your selected Keyholders® will have the ability to unlock your wishes.

folder
Documents are Released to Keyholders®

When the time comes and your Keyholders® request access to your documents, your wishes will be entrusted in their hands.

View Sample Will
 

Frequently Asked Questions

There is no requirement to use the services of a lawyer or notary public to prepare your own estate planning documents, including your Last Will and Testament.

The law that defines the legality of a Will is written specifically for each Province, State and Country, but in summary the law requires that the Will is written on a piece of paper and signed in the presence of two witnesses who cannot be beneficiaries to the Will.

Lawyers can certainly help you to prepare your Will, but everybody has a legal right to write their own Will. If you create a document using our service, it must be printed, signed and witnessed according to our instructions, and then it becomes a legal Last Will and Testament.
Quite simply, because we do not provide you with legal advice.

We are giving you direct access to the same software that lawyers use to prepare their documents, but you are doing it yourself. However, if you need custom clauses written to cover an unusual situation, we cannot do that, and we recommend that you seek legal advice. For example, if you have a child with special needs, they would need a trust written for their inheritance. We don't do that.

In most cases, a document written using our service will be word-for-word identical to one prepared by a lawyer.

There are no other payments required to prepare your legal Will. You can have a legal Will in your hands for $49.95USD with nothing else to pay, ever.

What other options are there?
If you wish, you can have your Will reviewed by one of our lawyers for $69.00USD. Most people do not need this, and would not benefit from it, but if you have selected an option such as "None of the above. Let me describe in detail how to distribute my estate.", then you may want to consider this.

Your Will must first be printed, and then signed in the presence of two witnesses. If you do not have access to a printer, we can print it for you and mail it out. The cost for this is $9.95USD, but again, most people do not need this option.

We also offer other services like MyLifeLocker™, a Financial Power of Attorney, and a Living Will. They are not required, but they may be useful to you depending on your situation.

What about document storage?
We do not store physical documents, but we allow you to maintain an account with us if you want to update your document in the future.

The Will service costs $49.95USD. With this payment, you are able to prepare your Will. It also gives you one year of unlimited updates to the document. You are able to print the document as often as you wish during that first year. You can download it as a PDF or Word file, but to make your document a legal Will, it must first be printed, and then signed in the presence of two witnesses. The online version is there for your convenience only.

If you choose not to maintain an account with us after the first year, your initial payment is all you will ever pay. We do not keep credit card details on file and cannot automatically charge beyond this initial payment.

If you wish, you can choose to store your documents online for longer than a year, which will make it easier to make updates in the future to reflect any changes in your personal or financial situation (rather than returning to a lawyer each time). This is of course optional, but it does make the process of maintaining your document more convenient. $11.95USD will give you one additional year of updates, or you can purchase multiple years: 5 years at $29.95USD, 10 years at $39.95USD, 25 years at $79.95USD ($3.20USD per year).

Every time you make an update to your Will, it must first be printed, and then signed in the presence of two witnesses again. If you choose not to maintain an account with us, you will always have your printed, signed document. If you don't need to make changes to that document, it will last you for the rest of your life, whether or not you have an account with us.

What happens if I don't maintain an account, and then in a few years I need to update it?
If your account has not been touched in years, and it is inactive, we reserve the right to remove the account. You will receive an email notification that your account might be removed. However, in practice, we have never actually removed any accounts in our over 24 years of operation.

So, in all likelihood, you will be able to simply login to your account and pay $11.95USD to reactivate it. This will give you one year of unlimited updates from the date of payment. (You will not have to pay for your inactive years.)

Yes, if you reside in Canada, the United States, England or Wales.

A Will covers the distribution of the assets that you own, often those that are located in your home country.

A Power of Attorney (also known as a Power of Attorney for Finances) and Living Will (also known as a Power of Attorney for Health Care), are very important documents that should be created and updated at the same time as your Will.

This website allows you to create a Will, Expatriate Will, Power of Attorney and Living Will.
Here are just a few differences:

  • We have designed our legal document creation services to be of the best quality available today.   We have evaluated many existing do-it-yourself kits and web-based services. We were shocked by the poor quality, limited instructions, and low value for money that many of these do-it-yourself kits provide consumers. 

  • Incredible value for money.   Our membership pricing model allows us to provide you with the most value for your money at prices that are unprecedented in the legal industry. We worked with lawyers to bring you this service, and we paid for their legal services so you don't have to. 

  • Plain language help and instructions.  In addition, all of our services provide you with complete instructions and answer your questions in everyday language, free of legal industry jargon.  We have developed our services based on the requirements of the public, not dictated by the legal profession.  Our wizards, help and information are also designed to be the best on the market and are kept up-to-date on an ongoing basis.  

  • Create your legal documents from the comfort of your own home.  No lawyer required.  Our unique approach allows you to make use of the ultimate convenience of the Internet to write your Expatriate Will and other documents at your own pace, online, and to make changes online at any time free of charge. 

  • Free unlimited updates.  Don't pay a lawyer every time you need to update your documents. We allow your documents to be kept securely online so that you can make free unlimited updates for as long as you are a member.

  • You can still have it reviewed by a lawyer. We have worked with lawyers in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom to bring you these services and to ensure that they are of the highest quality. But if you wish, we can still arrange for your documents to be reviewed by one of our lawyers, who will check the documents for consistency and completeness.

  • The Keyholder® Advantage. You can take advantage of our unique messaging service which allows you to describe the exact location of your documents and to provide a detailed list of assets for your Executor. All for no extra charge. When you pass away, let us worry about communicating this information to the people you specify. There is simply no other company that provides such a complete and convenient service to their customers. For more information, read about The Keyholder® Advantage.

  • We employ a strong focus on protecting the privacy and security of your information.  We use industry standard encryption algorithms for storing all of your private information, and the design of our services ensures that the contents of your information are made available to the specific people designated by yourself, and only at the appropriate time. 

  • Keep informed and up to date.  If you wish, we can inform you by email about any changes in legislation which may have occurred in your jurisdiction that may require changes to your documents.  Or we can send you simple email reminders, no more than once a year, to remind you to consider updating your documents if any significant changes have occurred in your life.  

Other websites and do-it-yourself kits simply do not compare.

Let Us Answer Your Questions

See All Questions
Creating a Will and other legal documents doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. We have hundreds of articles that simplify the process.
Browse Our Blog
Feel free to contact us during office hours, or get answers instantly with our online chatbot.
Contact Us

Popular Articles

Browse Our Blog
Spanish Will

The International Will

The basics of a Will are pretty much the same in any jurisdiction in the World.

The document needs to identify the person making the Will, describe the distribution of the estate, and be signed in the presence of two witnesses. It should also ideally name an Executor or estate administrator to carry out the instructions in the Will.

If a Last Will and Testament is that simple, you would think that a Will written in any jurisdiction would be accepted in any other jurisdiction, but unfortunately things are not as simply as that. Our partner websites at LegalWills.ca, USLegalWills.com and LegalWills.co.uk all offer interactive Will services that are very different from each other, even though the over-riding principles are the same. In fact, the Canadian and US services adapt the final document and help text across different States or Provinces.
Continue reading
Last Will and Testament

Can I write my own Last Will and Testament?

This is one of our most frequently asked questions, but it can mean one of two things:

A. Can I sit down with a blank piece of paper and write my own Last Will and Testament?

B. Can I prepare my own legal Will without using a legal professional.

Let us first explore question A...
Continue reading
Passports

Writing a Will when you live outside of the UK

"I am retired in Thailand, lived all over the place so I have assets in numerous countries and I wish to update my Will. On talking with a local lawyer he told me he can establish a will in Thailand to cover my assets here but I will need to do separate ones for other countries."

"As a UK citizen, resident here in Thailand, I want to make a Will which will be effective both here and there. Any ideas about how to go about it? Does it require two separate documents to cover assets in both places?"

When we look through various expat forums this is one of the most common questions asked.

What follows in the forums is a mix of excellent advice, interspersed with some really poor advice.
Continue reading