Baker Law Group Write Your Georgia Will Online

	Why Use Our Online Will Program?
	How Does This Work?	Printer Friendly Page
	What’s Included in the Simple Will Package?
	How Much Does This Cost?
	It Costs You Nothing To Try!



	Why Use Our Online Will Program?
	Top 5 Reasons	Our Package vs. LegalZoom - Download Comparison

You’re Dealing With Licensed Georgia Attorneys
Not customer service representatives at an 800 number out-of-state

Your Will is Designed Specifically to Comply With Georgia Law
Not a generic Will based on the laws of another state

We Don’t Sell Your Name, Email Address or Contact Information
We don’t send you junk email offering other products and services

You Will Meet With an Attorney for the Formal Signing of Your Will
The rules for signing and witnessing of your Will are important

You Get a Complete Will Package
Financial Power of Attorney & Advance Health Care Directive Are Included

Why We’re Different

Many on-line Will systems are available today. However, they are often provided by out-of-state companies who are not licensed attorneys. The fine print of these web sites usually explains that they provide only “legal information” which “may not meet your specific needs.”

We are a locally-owned, licensed Georgia law firm. Our online Will program is designed to provide you with a top quality Will written by Georgia attorneys.

This is not just “legal information” from an out-of-state company.

What’s Wrong With “Valid in All 50 States”?

Some web sites claim their Wills are “valid in all 50 states.” The problem is that meeting the minimum definition for a valid Will is like making the minimum passing grade on a test. We don’t think that’s good enough.

For example - in Georgia, the minimum legal requirement for a valid Will simply means that the Will is in writing and that it has two witnesses. There are no specific requirements for the wording and content of the Will itself, which is the heart of why you are writing a Will.

This is where the skill and training of your lawyer comes in. We put our years of Georgia law practice experience to work for you when designing the content of your Will, to be sure it is not only valid, but it also has the wording and terminology that fits your situation.

Why Do I Need a Will?

Everyone should have a current Will

To Choose Who Will Receive Your Property After You Die

To Choose Who Will Be the Guardian of Your Minor Children

To Choose Who Will Be the Executor of your Estate

What if I die without a Will?

Then your money and property will be distributed according to a formula set by law. Quite often, the results are not what you would have wanted, if you had written a Will.

Consider these examples ….

You are married with 2 adult children, and you die without a Will.
Under Georgia law, your spouse receives only 1/3 of your estate. Your children split the other 2/3. Most of our clients choose to leave everything to their spouse who is still living, not just 1/3 of their estate. To ensure that this happens, you need to have a valid Will in place.
You are married with 2 minor children, and you die without a Will.
Again, your spouse receives only 1/3 of your property, and your children split the other 2/3. And there is another problem - your children are minors, so they cannot receive money directly. Their shares will be held under court Guardianship/Conservatorship, with additional reporting requirements and costs. Your children will receive their inheritance in a lump sum at age 18, whether they are mature enough to handle the money or not. Having a properly drawn Will avoids these problems.
You are married and have 2 adult children from a prior marriage, who do not get along with your current wife. The home you live in is titled jointly with your wife as “tenants in common”. You die without a Will.
Again, your spouse receives only 1/3 of your estate, and your children from a prior marriage split the other 2/3. This includes your home, which is now owned partly by your wife and partly by the children from your first marriage. You have probably left a very unhappy family behind. A properly drawn Will could have prevented this problem.

Ready to Start Your Will?

If you’re like many of our clients, you know that you should have a Will, and you’ve been meaning to get this done.

Now is the time to protect your loved ones, to ensure that your most important wishes are carried out. Don’t let a Court decide who raises your children, or who inherits your property.

How Does This Work?

3 Easy Steps

Our Simple Will program has 3 Easy Steps

You complete our Simple On-Screen Interview

We review your answers, prepare your Will, Financial Power of Attorney and Health Care Directive

We contact you to set up an appointment for formal signing of your documents.

It’s that easy!

What Kinds of Questions are in the On-Screen Interview?

Our on-screen interview process carefully walks you through all the questions needed to gather the information needed to prepare your Will.

All you have to do is answer the questions on the screen:

List Your Immediate Family Members

Choose Your Beneficiaries (Who Will Inherit Your Property)

Choose a Guardian for Your Minor Children

Name Your Executor

That’s all there is to it.

Is There a Cost To Go Through The Online Interview?

No – there is no charge to look at or complete the online interview for your Will package. Feel free to explore and understand the interview. Payment is made when you come to our office to sign your Will and the other documents included in your package.

What if I Need to Stop and Come Back to the Interview Later?

No problem – you can log off at any time, and come back later to pick up where you left off.

What’s Included in the Simple Will Package?

A Complete Package – No Extra Charges

Your Simple Will Package includes more than just your Will. Each package includes three important legal documents:

Last Will & Testament
Financial Power of Attorney
Advance Health Care Directive

What’s included in my Last Will & Testament?

Your Will includes these main sections:

Identify Your Family – Identifies your immediate family members. You have the option to include or exclude step-children as Beneficiaries of your Will.
Payment of Debts – Authorizes your Executor to pay your debts, taxes and final expenses.
Gift of Tangible Personal Property – Names Beneficiaries to receive your furniture, home furnishings, electronic equipment, clothing, jewelry, etc.
Gift of All Other Money & Property (called the “Residue”) – Names Beneficiaries to receive all of your other assets (including your home, bank account, mutual funds, stocks, etc.).
Guardian for Minor Children – Names the person you want to have the care and custody of your minor children, if you (and your spouse) are deceased.
Trust for Minor Children – Your Will includes a Trust for your minor children, to pay for their college education and their medical care and general support. You get to choose the age(s) when your children receive their inheritance from the Trust.
Trust for Young Adult Children – If your children are over age 18 but under 30, and you are concerned about their receipt of a large sum of money, you have the option to put their inheritance in Trust. You get to choose the age(s) when your children receive their inheritance from the Trust.
Appointment of Executor – Names the person who want to serve as Executor to settle your estate, and to serve as Trustee if your Will includes a Trust for your children.
Powers of Executor – Explains in detail the powers granted to the Executor, to help them understand their powers and duties after you are gone.
Self-Proving Affidavit – Using wording specified by Georgia law, permits your Will to be probated without having to locate one of the individuals who signed as a Witness. This can save substantial time and effort, after someone has passed away.

What is a Financial Power of Attorney?
It’s a legal document that authorizes someone you trust to handle all of your financial affairs. This includes paying your bills, managing your investments, and handling tax and insurance matters, if you are too ill to do these things for yourself.

Why Do I Need a Financial Power of Attorney?
To be sure that someone is legally authorized to handle your financial and business affairs, if you become ill or incapacitated. In the online interview, you will choose the person you want to handle these matters for you.

What if I am in an accident or get very sick, and I haven’t signed a Financial Power of Attorney?
If you are no longer mentally competent (for example, you are in a coma from an accident, or you have had a stroke), then it is too late to prepare a Financial Power of Attorney.

Now a member of your family may have to go to court to have someone appointed as Conservator of your money and property. The court costs and legal fees can be expensive, and the person chosen usually has to post a bond, which is an added cost at a difficult time.

It is wise to plan ahead to avoid these court costs and legal fees, by having a current Financial Power of Attorney in place.

What is an Advance Health Care Directive?
It’s a legal document that authorizes someone you trust to make medical decisions for you, including life and death and “pull the plug” decisions, if you become incapacitated.

Prior to 2007, Georgia law provided for a Health Care Power of Attorney and a separate Living Will to take care of these medical decisions. These two documents have now been combined into one comprehensive Advance Health Care Directive. So, Health Care Powers of Attorney and Living Wills are no longer used in Georgia.

Why Do I Need an Advance Health Care Directive?
To be sure that the person you choose is legally authorized to make medical decisions for you (including “pull the plug” decisions) if you are so ill that you cannot speak for yourself. In the online interview, you will choose the person you want to handle these decisions for you.

What if I am in an accident or get very sick, and I haven’t signed an Advance Health Care Directive?
If you are no longer mentally competent (for example, you are in a coma from an accident, or you have had a stroke), then it is too late to prepare an Advance Health Care Directive. The persons you would prefer to make these decisions may not be able to do so, and your wishes on these very important medical decisions may never be known.

A member of your family may have to go to court to have someone appointed as Guardian of your person. The court costs and legal fees can be expensive.

It is wise to plan ahead to avoid these court costs and legal fees, and to be sure that your personal wishes are legally stated, by having a current Advance Health Care Directive in place.

How Much Does This Cost?

Simple Will Packages

Single Person

Will
Financial Power of Attorney
Health Care Directive

$595

Married Couple

Two Wills (One for Husband, One for Wife)
Two Financial Powers of Attorney (One for Husband, One for Wife)
Two Health Care Directives (One for Husband, One for Wife)

$895

Why are your fees higher than some of the web sites I’ve seen?

Remember, you need to compare “apples to apples.” The low-cost web sites are generally offering generic Wills through an out-of-state company that is not a licensed law firm, with content of unknown origin, that may or may not be correct for Georgia law or for your situation.

The fine print of these low-cost web sites usually says that they are only providing “information” – it’s up to you to figure out if what they give you is correct under the law of your state, and appropriate for your situation. How will you know?

Consider this example:
A man in his 60’s is married to his second wife, and has three children from a prior marriage. He decides to save money by using a “do-it-yourself” Will kit based on the law of another state. He writes in wording that makes sense to him, but legally is confusing, and creates an expensive legal problem for his widow and children, who do not get along and cannot agree on how the property should be divided. Many months go by and many thousands of dollars are spent on legal fees to try to resolve the family dispute, and to straighten out what should have been a simple Will.

With the low-cost web sites, you will be on your own to get your Will witnessed and notarized correctly. It’s easy to make a mistake with the technicalities of how to sign and witness a Will, which could have serious consequences.

When you use our Will program, you are dealing with licensed attorneys here in your home state of Georgia. Your Will is not only “valid” under Georgia law, it is prepared by Georgia attorneys who know what type of wording and content is appropriate in your Will.

You will actually meet with an attorney in our office for the formal signing of your Will, and we will answer your questions and explain the terms of your Will.

And, of course, you are getting a complete Will package, including a Financial Power of Attorney and Health Care Directive. Many of the low-cost web sites charge extra for these other documents.

What if the Simple Will program doesn’t work for my situation?

Our Simple Will program is a great option for families, seniors or singles who need a good, basic simple Will. But some clients need more in-depth advice and more complex Wills.

For example:

If your estate is over $2 million, you probably need tax planning advice, and a more complex structure in your Will.

If you want to disinherit your spouse or one of your children, there is the risk of a Will Contest. You should have an in-depth legal consultation, and you may need a Living Trust.

If you have a disabled child, you may need a Special Needs Trust.

If you are not a citizen of the United States, you may need a Qualified Domestic Trust.

If you want to want to avoid probate, you will need a Living Trust.

Our experienced attorneys can assist with all of these situations, and more. Just call (770) 992-4325 or email our office to schedule a full estate planning consultation.

Click here for fee estimates for these more complex types of Wills.

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