Review by Wendi Barker

Now that we’ve got kids, it has been bugging me that we didn’t have a will to direct what we wanted to happen in the even that something happened to both of us, and I hadn’t even considered what would happen if one of us became gravely ill, it just isn’t something we’ve considered at all. We have a fairly simple estate (we own our house, and have very few belongings that need to be designated to anyone in particular - one or two family heirlooms, and that is really it), so I feel comfortable doing a lot of the documents provided in software package myself. Once I’ve completed those I want for our family (will, financial power of attorney, health care directive, etc), I will print them out and make an appointment to meet with a notary to make sure they are viewed as official and enforceable.

The WillMaker Plus 2013 has a huge toolkit of legal documents at users fingertips and helps to guide you in making your important decisions. It also comes with a handy legal book that you can physically flip through.

In addition to life-event documents like the health care directive and will, it also has more common legal documents such as a bill of sale, child care agreement, child care instructions, Do Not Call (putting your name on the do not call list), subscription/membership cancellation form, and SO MANY MORE!nnI love feeling empowered without needing to meet for hours with a lawyer, which really adds to the expense of planning out your life events.

In short, for an easy estate, this is a great tool, provided you remember to print and have your documents made official by a Notary Public. If your estate is more extensive I would probably use this as a starting point, and then bring some of the papers to a lawyer to make sure you are on the right track.