Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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116 of 122 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
POSTERS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES, October 31, 2006
How sad when a group of people who do not know how to read the directions or work a computer can post negative comments about one of the best will and trust programs out there. I bought the program after I read the review in PC WORLD comapring other Will & Trust kits and they said Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit is not only a great value, but the easiest of the three will-preparation packages. By the way the kit allows for multi-user use so not only did I create my own documents for my wife and I but then I gave the CD to my brother and he downloaded it in his computer to create his and his wife's documents. If you need to make a change -- updating couldn't be easier -- when my son was born I simply updated the information in my will by added him as a beneficiary and printed out a new will -- now my whole family is protected. None of us experienced any printing problems and by the way I use a mac and they use PCs.
Below is what PC World said about Suze's kit, (the aritcle is still on PC world website if you want to read the entire text comparing all the kits on the market): "For just $13.50, Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit is not only a great value, but the easiest of the three will-preparation packages I tried. With the same demonstrative and instructional tone she uses on her PBS television shows, Orman provides audio voice-overs at just about every step. Sometimes they are annoyingly dumbed-down but, for the most part, they help to explain exactly what you are filling in on each page of the legal form--and why.When a more detailed legal explanation is needed, Dobrovolny, Orman's attorney, chimes in. The actual grunt work in creating a living will and health care directive for the user amounts to filling in personal data and selecting one of the choices for the different possible scenarios should you require life support.After the interview process (and the context-sensitive audio makes you feel like you've been in an actual rather than virtual interview), your document can be previewed and printed out for witness signatures. Wills, revocable trusts, and power of attorney must-have documents also are included, as are links to request personal documentation such as birth and death certificates, Social Security statements, and military records. Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit requires an Internet connection to work properly.Time needed to create a living will: 20 minutes."
By the way I live in NY state and took the will I created with Suze's kit and showed it to a friend of mine whom is a lawyer and he said it was one of the best wills he has seen from a self-help program. He was impressed that it included for NY state a WIll affidavit while not required to make the will valid in New York, he thought it was an excellent idea to sign one when executing a will. It can greatly reduce the difficulty associated with probating the Will when the time comes.
And for the poster whom complained about an issue with a notary in NY state; the reason you could not get a NY notary to sign your will is that your will is NOT supposed to be notoraized just the will affidavit. Did you not read the instructions that came with kit? It is very clear what needs to be witnessed and what needs to be notarized -- it even shows you where to sign. They even tell you what to do in the audio, this is what the audio instructions in the kit say: "You're now ready to date and sign the will. Before you do so, however, you need to assemble your witnesses. Look carefully at the form you have. Some states require the witnesses to sign an affidavit in order to prevent them from having to appear in court after you die. If that is the case, you will need to take your witnesses to do the signing in front of a notary. Please note that some banks, although they do have notaries, do not allow the notaries to act as witnesses to the wills. So before you make that trip down to the bank with your witnesses all ready to sign, call ahead to and make sure the notary will, in fact, notarize the wills."
Suze has does everything to protect you, give you the best documents for less than three Starbucks coffees and all you know how to do is complain. What is a matter with all of you you should be ashamed of yourselves.
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138 of 148 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps acceptable for CA residents with minimal estates., November 25, 2006
The trust(s) created by this program use California law, no matter what state you live in. A joint trust created with this program says that all property transferred to the trust will be community property. A joint trust created by this program also waives each spouse's rights under California Family Code section 2640. Don't know what community property is, or what section 2640 says? Too bad.
Before printing any documents, the program makes you agree to a disclaimer that says you should consult an attorney. Unfortunately, if you're not in CA, it may be difficult to find an attorney who wants to give you a legal opinion about CA law.
The trust included does absolutely no estate tax planning. It's good that the authors are up-front about this, but it would be helpful if the materials on the outside of the box explained that if you've got more than $1 million in property, the authors think you should avoid using their program and see an attorney instead.
Ultimately, to generate an estate plan using this software, you're going to have to click over and over again to "AGREE" to a disclaimer that tells you these documents should be reviewed by an attorney before they're actually used; that the authors are not providing legal advice; that the authors accept no responsibility for your actions. Would you hire an attorney who gave you documents while asking you to sign a document agreeing not to sue them if the document turned out to be useless, or worse?
The trust created by the program can be modified entirely after the death of the first spouse - so there is no protection in place to preserve assets for the joint children if the surviving spouse remarries or needs Medicaid-funded nursing home care.
The documents provided to change beneficiaries for IRA and 401(k) plans have no discussion of - and make no provision for - planning for "stretch" IRA distributions, and in fact make "stretch" planning impossible, which might potentially mean losing out on tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the missed stretch opportunity.
Even though the attorney who co-wrote the software is licensed in California - and California is the forum state mentioned in the choice of law clause - the estate plan makes no provisions for California property tax planning for beneficiaries who may inherit real property. If you've lived in California, you'll appreciate the importance of preserving your Proposition 13 property tax assessed value for your children, and their children .. if your estate plan was drafted with that end in mind. There may be similar issues for people who live in other states - I've got no idea if there are or not, and you probably don't either, unless you find someone who knows your local law.
The program doesn't cost much money and has some educational value. So it's not a total waste. The plan and the documents it produces are a long way away from what a good estate planning attorney can produce - but what's really missing here is an overall understanding of the family's assets, values, risks, and opportunities .. together with a comprehensive plan to address those circumstances.
I'm an estate planning attorney in CA - but I don't really think of a software package that costs less than a large pizza as a meaningful competitor, especially after trying it out to see what it produces. I wouldn't mind at all if potential clients of mine used the software to play around at home to get comfortable with some of the terminology and issues that are part of putting together a real estate plan - but there's no way I'd recommend this to someone I cared about as a good way to create an estate plan that they actually planned to sign and use.
I'm still shocked by the decision to make trusts for all states subject to California law - that's the kind of advice that can only be given responsibly by someone who understands California law, the law of your state, and your personal circumstances. There are cases where I might choose to have a client's trust be governed by the law of another state - but those cases are relatively rare, and I can articulate clear, concrete reasons to do so. A blanket choice that everyone, everywhere, should use California law strikes me as inappropriate.
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76 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
RESPONSE FROM SUZE'S TRUST ATTORNEY, JANET DOBROVOLNY, REGARDING USERS CONCERNS, August 1, 2005
Hello, I am the Trust and Wills attorney that worked with Suze Orman to create the Suze Orman Will and Trust kit. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to a user whom posted concerns here.
* He expressed concern that there is a lack of clarity in a section of the will that could cause confusion. The sentence in question is:
"I nominate Mary Smith to act as my executor. If Mary Smith cannot serve then John Smith is to serve as the executor of my will."
The questions is whether the second sentence requires the insertion of a comma to avoid any confusion. This section, as written, is clear and correct. There is no confusion about who is being named as executor. And that is the guiding principle for the courts; is the intention of the person making the will clear to the reader. As written this program I believe you the reader can see that it is absolutely clear.
The poster also pointed out a grammar error in an instruction letter. We thanked the fellow for pointing out that there is a change of tense in the letter. This has been corrected and recently posted in a free update that is included with the program. But rest assured the letter's intent was clear even with the tense issue; I have complete confidence in the content of the letter. The cover letter provided in the program is a courtesy letter, much like a fax cover sheet and has no legal significance. To view the letter please go to: www.suzeorman.com/drletter/
* The same person expressed concern in his original post to the help website, about the use of what he called "boiler plate" language and the inability to delete text from the will document. The specific concerns were two passages dealing with children and minors. The specific wording and inability for users to alter the text was a very deliberate decision I encouraged Suze to make. After much research and consultation, I decided the language with respect to children and minors is absolutely necessary to protect the users of this program. After reviewing countless wills people created using other programs I saw so many errors and omissions due to the changes and additions made by the program users. By making changes, inconsistencies and errors were written into the documents. Those mistakes were enough to make the will invalid. To protect users of Suze's program, and to ensure that the final will that is created would be judged valid, we created a program where the user made selections and answered certain questions that then automatically inserted the correct legal language in their will.
That is why when you select "no children" in the user profile, your document will nonetheless include the sentence: "I intentionally leave nothing to anyone claiming to be child of mine regardless of the validity of their claim." Without such a sentence, if you had a child you did not know about, then that child would be able to take a large part, or even all of your estate upon your death. Sound far-fetched? Well, there have indeed been many famous cases where unknown children have surfaced and made successful claims on estates. I realize this will not pertain to most users, but Suze's focus was to create a program that gives everyone the best legal protection; so that is why it is included.
* There was also concern about the inclusion of a phrase addressing the right for the executor to retain the inheritance of a young person in a custodianship UTMA account. This phrase can save an estate a great deal of time and money. Because of this phrase, the executor will not need to create a guardianship for the minor in the courts which can easily cost $5,000. The provision allows the executor to protect a young person beyond age 18, in some states covering up to age 25. Even if you don't name a minor child as a beneficiary, this phrase can be important. If one of your beneficiaries dies before you, or with you, that person's child or children will often become the beneficiary as a result of the death. Because of this, I encouraged Suze to include the phrase in the program. Again, our goal is to protect everyone from as many possible scenarios based on our extensive real life experience.
I thank you for your concern. Please know that I worked with Suze for months creating and vetting this program to make sure it would truly deliver a valid will to all users. The issues you raise were indeed discussed during the development of this program. The wording we chose was very intentional to ensure that all users had the utmost protections, and that there was no possibility that any user would inadvertently make a change that could render the document invalid.
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