Will PrepSM
Write Your Last Will and Testament
Create a legal Will that sets out your wishes and makes things easier for those you care about.
Draft a Power of Attorney for Finances
Give permission to a loved one or trusted advisor to handle your financial affairs.
Create a Living Will
Make your end of life preferences known if you are no longer able to express them.
Wills and Estate Documents
Without a will, your estate will be distributed according to the law. This can be a complex, time-consuming process requiring your family to hire a lawyer. Will PrepSM, an online document preparation system known as LawAssure, simplifies the work of preparing a legal will.
Will PrepSM asks you a series of easy-to-answer questions, each with helpful explanations and examples. Based on your responses, our system drafts and tailors the required clauses to create a document suitable for your circumstances.
Your documents will remain stored in your LawAssure My Documents folder, making them easily accessible when you want to make changes.
Once you are satisfied with your documents, you should print and sign your documents and then share and store them as appropriate. We recommend that a scanned copy be stored in Tenzing®.
Tips to Get Started
When you have selected your Will, you will be provided with a set of comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand Guidance Notes that include an overview of the document, things you need to consider like the jurisdiction of the document, the process for signing and witnessing the document, and explanations of any terms you may not understand.
Before starting, you will want to consider the following:
- What property should you include in your Will?
- Who will inherit your property?
- If you have children under the age of 18, who will serve as a guardian to raise your children in the unlikely event that the other parent cannot?
- Who will serve as the executor of your Will?
- Select impartial witnesses who are unrelated to the beneficiaries and executor.
- If there is more that you want to express in writing (e.g., how to distribute specific personal items), write your wishes in a letter to be attached to your Will. It is important to note that a “Letter of Wishes” is not legally binding, but it does give your executors more information to allow them to follow your wishes more closely. You should select executors you trust to follow these wishes. A letter of wishes can also include photographs if appropriate. To make this task easier, we provide a letter template for you to insert your wishes.
- Consider where to store your Will. This should be in a safe place that can be easily accessed by your executor and family. You should let your executors and family know where they can find the signed, witnessed hard copy of your Will.
- A scan of your Will can also be easily stored in Tenzing™.
Do I need a Will?
If you die without a will, or “intestate”, the risks are:
- It makes a hard time even more difficult for your loved ones as the don’t know what you would have wanted.
- Your assets (money, property, vehicle, belongings, etc.) may go to people you would not have selected.
- Your pets may not be cared for as you would have wanted.
- If you have children, they may end up being raised by someone you would not have chosen to assume this important responsibility.
What if I already have a Will?
Review your Will every few years, or after a major life event such as a birth, death, or divorce.
If you write a new Will that replaces (or “revokes”) an existing one, you should ensure the original hard copy Will is destroyed, to avoid any confusion over the correct version when the time comes for it to be used.
Are these real legal documents?
All our documents are created by top attorneys and are periodically reviewed and updated in accordance with changes in the law, giving you peace of mind that comes with knowing that your document is of the highest quality and legally sound.
How does Will Prep℠ work?
When you have selected the document you require, such as a Comprehensive Will for an unmarried person, you will be asked a series of questions. This is a bit like the interview you would have with a solicitor if you used a traditional, face to face method of drafting your Will.
Instead of being put on the spot, the system is asking the questions on the left-hand side of the screen and you can take your time answering them. As you do so, the document is drafted in real time on the right-hand side – and tailored to your circumstances and wishes.
Where possible, the legal jargon has been removed and the questions are written in plain English. Where a legal term has been used, or there is a legal implication, helpful explanations are provided throughout the questionnaire to help you understand the meaning of certain questions.
Documents do not have to be completed all at once. You can save your progress and return to the document at any time.
Available Legal Documents
Will: A Will takes effect when a person dies. It is a legal, written document that directs how a person’s assets should be distributed after death, which is particularly important if the assets are being used to support dependents.
If your family situation involves a common-law relationship, blended family, or multiple marriages you should consult a lawyer who will provide guidance on how your individual circumstances could affect the distribution of assets in a Will. Consulting a lawyer is the safest way to avoid any challenges to the wishes outlined in your Will.
Power of attorney grant other people permission to act on your behalf in your lifetime and gives them guidance on how they should act. The documents vary by legal jurisdiction, so it is important you select the right document(s) for your region.
Lasting Power of Attorney – Property and Financial Affairs (England & Wales): This document allows you to nominate up to six people and/or a trust corporation to make decisions about your financial affairs in the event that you can no longer do so yourself (e.g., you are comatose or suffering from dementia). You can also set restrictions and leave guidance on what decisions they can make. Once completed, this document must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). A registration fee will be payable to the OPG.
Continuing and Welfare Power of Attorney (Scotland): Use this document to appoint another person to look after your financial affairs and personal welfare (i.e., your health and social affairs). Your attorney can either take up the financial power immediately or, if you choose, not until two doctors certify that you are incapable of making these decisions for yourself. The welfare part of this power of attorney will only come into effect with this doctor certification. Note that once you’ve created your power of attorney, you will need to register it with the Public Guardian. They will charge a fee to do this.
Enduring Power of Attorney (Northern Ireland): An enduring power of attorney allows you to give others the legal ability to manage your affairs if you ever become unable to manage them yourself or communicate your wishes (e.g, as a result of ageing, mental illness or physical incapacity. This document allows you to nominate up to two attorneys.
Living Will: A ‘Living Will’ lets you specify in writing your wishes regarding health care and how you want to be treated if you become seriously ill and unable to make or communicate your own choices. Your wishes can be either that certain treatment(s) should not be provided in specified circumstances, making these wishes binding on medical staff, or that you should be treated or cared for in a particular way, requiring medical staff to take them into account in a non-binding manner.
Letter of Wishes: A letter of wishes is an informal letter addressed to your executors or to the trustees of any trust created by your Will. It is used to tell them what you would like to happen following your death. Unlike your Will, the Letter of Wishes does not become publicly available when you die. It can be used to assist or guide your executors or trustees on any personal and specific wishes you want fulfilled. It does not interfere with or restrict the discretion of the executors or trustees in any way and is not legally binding but can be a great help to executors particularly with distributing personal items or informing the guardians of your children how you would like them to be brought up.
FAQs for Will Prep℠
GENERAL QUESTIONS
What makes Everest’s LawAssure different from other online legal services?
Most online legal services provide you with ‘off-the-shelf’ or ‘flat form’ legal documents that will be relatively inflexible to your personal circumstances. Our documents ask you a series of easy-to-answer questions each with helpful explanations and often, examples. Based on your responses, our system tailors the required clauses to create a document suitable for your circumstances. Each document has a set of comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand Guidance Notes providing an overview of the document, things you need to consider like the jurisdiction of the document, explanations of any terms you may not understand, and requirements for signing and witnessing the documents.
Are these legal documents of high quality?
All LawAssure documents and letters are created by certified lawyers and frequently reviewed and updated in accordance with changes in the law, giving you peace of mind that comes with knowing that your document is of the highest quality and legally sound.
Who should act as a witness to a Will?
Any person can act as a witness to your Will, but you should select someone who isn’t a beneficiary to avoid any conflict of interest. The technical term is a “disinterested witness.” Some countries, require two or more witnesses.
How often does a will need to be updated?
You can make a will just once as long as your circumstances do not change. It is important to note that changing your marital status (getting married or divorced) will mean you need a new will.
Remember, the only version of your Will that matters is the most current, valid will in existence at the time of your death.
With that in mind, you may want to revisit your Will when a major life change occurs, such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a beneficiary or executor, a significant purchase or inheritance. We suggest you review your will every two or three years to be safe.
Who should I name as my executor?
You can name your spouse, an adult child, or another trusted friend or relative as your executor. If you own property, then you will need two executors.
It is also sensible to think of and appoint a “substitute” executor. The substitute will be asked to step in and be an executor if one of your two named executors is unwilling or unable to act when the time comes or has predeceased you.
If your affairs are complicated, you will want to consider using a lawyer to create your will and possibly even serve as your executor.
USING LAWASSURE
Which web browser do I need?
The website is designed to work in all current versions of Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari.
Why doesn’t the document open in my browser?
This may be because of the compatibility view settings in your web browser. Compatibility settings are usually found in the Tools section of your web browser. Check your pop up blocker is not preventing to software from working.
What if I don’t understand what a question means?
Next to each question is a small ‘?’ icon that will open a small pop-up window containing an explanation of the question and in some cases will provide an example. You can hide this explanation by again clicking once on the icon.
What if I can’t figure out why the “progress bar” shows a Red section?
Return to that section of the document either by using the “Back” buttons or by clicking on the red section directly. Scroll all the way down the page of questions, as the section is red because you have not answered or not completed one of the questions.
How do I print my document?
Open the ‘My Documents’ section of the website and locate the folder containing the document. Displayed on the right-hand side should be all the documents contained within the folder you have opened. Select ‘Download’ to open the document as a PDF or MS Word file. You can now save your document offline to your device (such as a laptop), or save it to a removable storage device such as a USB stick, and you can print the document.
What if I do not have a printer?
You can save the document to a removable storage device, such as a USB stick or to your own device such as a smart phone if needed and take it somewhere to be printed such as a friend or relative’s house or a library or office supplies store that provides a printing service.
How often can I use the LawAssure tool?
There is no limit on how often you use the LawAssure planning tool to ensure your documents remain accurate and current.
Support and Assistance
For immediate help, reach out to an Everest advisor.
