 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| |||||||||
|
|||||||||
Home
|
Press Center
|
In The News
|
|
|
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
PC Packages Streamline Living Will Creation
When the recent national debate over Terri Schiavo was raging, did you tell yourself, "Boy, that would never happen to me"?
Schiavo, of course, was the Florida woman whose parents wanted to keep her on life support and whose husband insisted that that was not her wish. The moral of the bitter political and familial imbroglio was simple: If Schiavo had written a living will or health care directive, none of the controversy over pulling her feeding tube would have occurred. Whether you agree with the stance of the husband or the parents, your wishes for your own situation will be carried out if you take the time to create a living will. This health care directive specifies exactly how you want to be treated or not treated if you become incapacitated or otherwise unable to speak for yourself. Until recently, the only way to create this document was to pay a lawyer or paralegal or to use a boilerplate form that did not necessarily conform to your state's laws. Today, however, numerous software packages and Web sites let you quickly and easily create wills, living wills, and other basic legal documents without the need to consult a lawyer. I took a look at three of the most popular software packages: Broderbund WillWriter Deluxe, Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit, and Quicken WillMaker Plus 2005. I also test-drove Legalzoom.com, which is an all-round Web legal service that walks you through the process of creating living will documents and many other online legal documents. LegalZoom.com LegalZoom.com is a general legal site that handles living wills and health directives, among a wide array of legal documents. Unlike with the software packages reviewed in this article, you pay a per-document fee with LegalZoom.com. A basic living will costs $39. You fill in the forms directly online and pay with a credit card, and the site's legal experts then review the document and mail you a printed copy. For another $20, you can change the document an unlimited number of times for up to five years. 
I found LegalZoom's interview and data-entry process simple. You fill in an attorney-created standardized form that matches your state requirements, and you get a hard copy that needs witness signatures. If you don't want to load software, this might be the way to go.
Time needed to create a living will: 10 minutes. Considering how quick and painless it is to create a living will with any of these packages and services, and given their low price and ease of use, there's little excuse for not making a living will. You'll save your loved ones hassle and heartache should the document ever be needed. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
