Quicken Willmaker Plus 2009 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with Software) [CD-ROM] [Paperback]

Editors of Nolo (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 141330902X | ISBN-13: 978-1413309027 | Publication Date: October 29, 2008 | Edition: 2009 Edition

Nearly 60 percent of Americans lack a legal will - and Quicken WillMaker: Estate Planning Essentials is the simple estate-planning solution they need! Step by step, it provides readers with a straightforward path through the complexities of ensuring their families' futures. Best of all, your readers will not only understand wills, living trusts and financial powers of attorney - they'll also create them, quickly and easily. The interactive CD-ROM helps them to make their own: legal wills; living trusts; living wills; health care powers of attorney; financial powers of attorney; final arrangements documents and forms for executors. Plus, Quicken WillMaker provides other financial and legal documents that help protect their families and property, such as authorizations, agreements and promissory notes - over 50 forms in all. What's new? The 5th edition is completely updated to provide the latest state and federal laws, and all documents are revised to reflect each state's specifications. In addition, Quicken WillMaker now makes it much easier to arrange for pet care - and much more. Many companies publish books about estate planning, but Nolo is the only publisher to provide a complete solution to your readers' needs! Good in every state except Louisiana.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"From a group of tough critics, Nolo's WillMaker got the most praise... superior on every front." -- Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

"Quicken WillMaker Plus... was easy to install from a CD, and we found the interview-style format intuitive. We found it the most complete of the five products we tried." -- The Wall Street Journal

"Walks you through making a will and provisions you need to consider for your situation." -- CBS News

"Which software did I like the best? No contest.... If you're looking to write a will, I highly recommend WillMaker." -- Eric Tyson, author of Personal Finance for Dummies

"WillMaker is such an easy-to-use program that users may never need to look at the manual... refreshingly painless." -- Fortune

From the Publisher

System Requirements

CD-ROM enclosed
Computer: Pentium 133 (Pentium II 300 recommended)
Operating System: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista
Memory: 32 MB RAM (64 MB RAM recommended)
Hard Disk Space: 19 MB (26 MB to install)
Monitor: Super VGA (800x600) with 256 colors (16-bit color recommended)
CD-ROM drive: 2X Speed
Internet Connection: 14.4 Kbps modem required to access online features (56 Kbps or higher recommended)
Printer: Any printer supported by Windows 2000 / XP / Vista
Software: Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. Adobe Acrobat Reader (optional). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: NOLO; 2009 Edition edition (October 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141330902X
• ISBN-13: 978-1413309027
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Law > Practical Guides > Wills

More About the Author

Shae Irving has been a Nolo author and editor since 1994, specializing in estate planning and family law issues. She has written or co-written books and software, including Prenuptial Agreements: How to Write a Fair and Lasting Contract, Living Wills and Powers of Attorney for California, Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To, and Nolo's Quicken WillMaker Plus software. She is the managing editor of WillMaker and also edits many of Nolo's estate planning books. Irving graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley and briefly practiced law at a large San Francisco firm before joining Nolo's editorial staff.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

311 of 317 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful estate planning book and software, December 14, 2006

By 

Gadgester "No Time, No Money" (Mother Earth) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Quicken Willmaker Plus 2007 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

I originally wrote the following review for the Quicken WillMaker Plus 2007 software, which actually costs more than this book-CD-ROM bundle. This book-CD-ROM combo *DOES* include the full version of Quicken WillMaker Plus 2007; see my picture posted above. I highly recommend this book-CD bundle as it's both cheaper and more helpful. The book is a very good primer on the topic of estate planning.

Original review of the software, which mentions this Essentials kit:

I'm a fan of Nolo's Quicken Willmaker product. It helps you create your own estate planning documents as well as a few simple general legal documents. It's very easy to use, and works in all states (except Lousiana, where the estate planning documents created in this software won't be legal due to that state's specific drafting requirements).

There are a few things you should know, however, before purchasing the software.

First, Amazon also sells a book-CD version called Quicken Willmaker Estate Planning Essentials which combines a full book on estate planning with a full version of the Willmaker Plus software, and it sells for much less than the software alone! It's just a much better deal. Just search for "willmaker" in the Book section. (Note: the 2007 version, which is the one you *should* buy, is slated for release Oct. 30, according to the product page on Amazon.)

Second, the 2007 edition of the software gives you updates and tech support through the end of 2007. While you can create and modify and print and export documents created in Willmaker 2007 for as long as you own the software, you won't receive any updates beyond December 2007. If your state's estate planning law changes in January 2008, for instance, your will and other Willmaker-created documents *might* become outdated and no longer of legal value. Herein lies an interesting question, almost a catch-22: you bought this software to avoid the service of a lawyer, but in order to ascertain whether your documents will remain in legal force in the future, you may need to consult a lawyer! Of course, you can always opt to get the 2008 (and 2009 and 2010 and so on) versions. If Nolo continues to market the Estate Planning Essentials bundle for thirty bucks each year, you may still end up saving money upgrading each year rather going to a lawyer. (E.g., $30 a year times 30 years comes to less than $1000, cheaper than engaging a New York City or San Francisco lawyer for three hours!) My take: unless you live in a state that constantly alters its estate planning laws, you will probably be safe with just Willmaker 2007 and upgrade occasionally in the future, especially when your life situation experiences a big change. (For example, if you are married and, God forbid, divorce in 2011, you can skip editions 2008-2010 but do upgrade to the 2011 edition when you re-plan your estate.)

Third, while the software itself is easy to use with its step-by-step guide (and if you get the cheaper book version mentioned above, it's even better!), getting all the information you need about yourself (assets, beneficiaries, etc.) is actually quite a time-consuming process. Taht's why again I recommend the book-software bundle; it tells you what you need to do before running the software to write your will. Otherwise you'd be surprsied at how much prep work you'll actually have to do before finishing even a simple will!

One last thought: because this is self-help software, while many people will find it adequate, you may still want to talk to an estate attorney. For one thing, a legal will requires witnesses, and you might just as well pay your attorney and his assistant to act as your witnesses, if you don't want your friends or relatives to know what's in your will! For another, estate laws are getting more and more complicated, and vary by state, so a local attorney is still BY FAR the best and most reliable source and a competent attorney will provide invaluable services that no self-help software can offer. That said, I do recommend this excellent program (esp. the cheaper kit) for those obsessed with self-help and/or those looking to save money. (Yours truly belong to both types!) Besides, the Estate Planning Essential Kit, which I think is just GREAT, can educate you on the various topics in estate planning, so even if you choose to hire a lawyer, you'll talk smart and know what he or she is doing with your will and your trust.

(Again, Louisiana residents should seek an attorney's help. This software, or any other estate planning software I know of, won't work in your state.)

No adult with children or property is too young to start estate planning. However you choose to proceed, good luck!

[Disclaimer: This review, originally written Sept. 18, 2006, was updated on Oct. 9 after a Nolo representative e-mailed me about my misunderstanding of the software's update/upgrade policy. Also, please note that I'm *not* a lawyer (not even a law student!) and cannot offer any legal advice; please do not e-mail me with your legal questions.]

144 of 145 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some features & quirks worth noting, February 3, 2007

By 

A.W.T.Night (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quicken Willmaker Plus 2007 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

I just used this program to make wills and healthcare directives for my wife and me. Here are some of the features that I thought were worth noting:
* The program divides a document into sections and shows you a list of those sections, indicating which sections you have done. You can resume the interview at the beginning of any section and make changes from that point on.
* After doing one will, you can go to the File menu and Save for Spouse. This creates a copy of the will with the spouses names interchanged. Then you can go through the interview and make any needed changes.
* In the process of answering the questions, the program accumulates the names of people you mention into an editable contact list. After you mention someone once, the next time you need them you can simply select them from a list. This is handy when doing the healthcare directive, which needs to show contact information, if you have already entered that information when doing the will. It is also handy if you decide to redo portions of either document. When working on one family member's document, you can import contacts from another's document.
* The program does not appear to provide the option to list of two or more alternate executors to serve one at a time in the order named. The only way to list two or more alternate executors is to have two or more of them serve together. This is ironic, since the program recommends having only one executor at a time. Although I wanted to name my wife, children, and then siblings as alternate executors, I decided to accept just having my wife and son as executor and alternate. If all of us die in an auto accident while taking a trip together, then there is hopefully time for the probate court to name an executor. It would just be more expedient to have one already named.
* I contacted customer support asking them to enhance the program to add an option to list of two or more alternate executors to serve one at a time in the order named. The response stated why they chose to omit that option ("The editors choose to limit the number of fields for Beneficiaries and Executors to prevent the program from becoming to unwieldy") and some options (export the document and add the language or return the program). I was disappointed that they did not embrace my suggestion (I disagreed that it would make the program too unwieldy, since they already allow you to list multiple Beneficiaries and Executors that serve together at the same time), but I liked that I received a prompt response that indicated they had read my note and knew what I was talking about, and that they gave an honest, direct answer.
* At the end of the interview you can review the document as it will print. You can then print it directly to a printer, or export it as plain text or RTF. Exporting to RTF is handy if you need to change the document (they advise against changing it) or print it somewhere else. However, the RTF is not identical to printing directly. I noticed two differences. (1) Pagination can be different, and as explained by the program, getting the pagination right is important for legal reasons. (2) The footer is always different: the directly printed copy says how many total pages, whereas the RTF one does not. If you cannot print directly to a printer, I recommend printing to a PDF to maintain the pagination and other features. If you do not have a way to create a PDF, get a free PDF Writer (search on that term). When you print the document to PDF, print it as prepress so you embed the fonts.

117 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself and your loved ones a favor. Make a will., January 18, 2007

By 

K. D. Richardson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quicken Willmaker Plus 2007 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

This product is great and I highly recommend it. I was years behind in updating my will. The attorney who did my first will had stopped practicing law and I was not sure who to call. On top of that, I knew it was going to be expensive. You do not need an attorney to do a simple will. Most people can do it themselves easily with Quicken Willmaker Plus. On the Amazon site, you will see 2 different products called Quicken Willmaker Plus. One is software and one is a book. Buy the book. The information there will help you with the process, and the same software is inserted inside the cover of the book. On top of that, the book is cheaper than the software alone. With Quicken Willmaker plus, I was able to create my own will. Plus, it is saved in an electronic format and I can easily change it or update it in the future. Keep in mind, there are some situations where you should seek an attorney's help: 1) If you have a disabled or handicapped child that you want to provide for. 2) If you have been through a divorce and are trying to protect your assets from individual(s). Those situations are complicated and it would be wise to seek professional counsel. For most people though, you can do this yourself and save a lot of money. Most of us have just been convinced that we need a professional. I highly recommend this product. I have a lot of peace of mind now that I know this is taken care of. Oh by the way, this software will help you with some other important documents besides the will. You can create a durable power of attorney and create end-of-life documents including a living will. You don't have to put this off any longer.