Last Will & Revokable Trust

[rjordan392]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania.
Hello,
I have an existing Will and Revokable Trust that is over 10 years old and I want to update the Will and possibly revoke the Trust and have new one's made up. I made an appointment with an attorney and she said she would do the Will as a favor at no cost but would have to charge me a lot for the Trust work. I did not ask how much; but should have. So what is a fair cost to have a new Will and Trust if the total assets are about $150,000 to $175,000 in estimated value?
Is this something I can do myself by purchasing one of those kits that are available over the counter. I think if she charges me up to $300.00, I will pay it but over that, I may want to make out my own, using the originals as a guide.

 

[curb1]

What kind of changes are you planning to make? Just replacing names and dates? Eliminating sections, or what? You will probably have to pay $1000 to $1500 for a trust. Don't ask me why, unless it is something complicated.

 

[rjordan392]

Some of the names, dates and sections will change. The Will and Trust are actually less complicated then the original.
Here is what is involved:
All my household possessions and vehicle go to my Sister.
My Sister and 7 relatives will share % amounts on the net proceeds of the sale of my home.
I named my Sister as beneficuary of my savings and checking accounts but only for the use of my funeral and burial expenses and any balance left over, she can keep.
I own some Stock which has three minor children as beneficuarys which she will be entrusted sell and split the proceeds to the three minor children's savings accounts that are already set up. I also named other persons to be the successor custodian of these accounts upon my death.
The $1000.00 to $1500.00 sounds steep and way out of line. I think I may have to cancell the appointment and do the legal work myself.

 

[seniorjudge]

...
Is this something I can do myself by purchasing one of those kits that are available over the counter. I think if she charges me up to $300.00, I will pay it but over that, I may want to make out my own, using the originals as a guide....

This, of course, is an invitation to disaster.

BUT, if you insist on doing this, then the will and the trust should have basically the same provisions.

 

[rjordan392]

I am now awaiting my attorneys reply for the cost's. I will also investigate the procedures to revoke prior wills and trusts. If and when I decide to do it all myself, then I believe as long as I have the new Will and Trust witnessed, signed and notarized, all will be ok. All I need do is to follow most of what's contained in the old and only changed the names and amounts of the awards.The thing that is in my favor is that I been single all my life with no decendants; so that makes it a lot easier to pick and change beneficuarys and stipulate how and when awards will be distributed.

The only reason I will do this is that it will take about 4 to 5 years for me to get out of debt and I do not feel like adding the additional cost of up to $1500.00 to the debt, to have an attorney take care of it. And I do not want to wait 5 years because I could die beforehand and the existing will and trust will be in effect. As it stands now, the existing terms and conditions of the old are unacceptable to me.

 

[seniorjudge]

I will also investigate the procedures to revoke prior wills and trusts.

The GENERAL rule is that the trust can be modified and the modification will state that it is a modification of the original one.

Also, the GENERAL rule is that making a new will should contain a clause that revokes the old one.

 

[rjordan392]

Thanks,
I am sure I can do the will without any problems but I need to get some examples of Trust modifications to get an idea on how I should make my changes.
Making modifications to the trust sounds like the path I should take. I'll check the legal forms on the right side of the site page to see if theres anything there.
Do you know of a site where I can view examples of modifications?

 

[tranquility]

The law can change a lot in 10 years. You might make your changes, spending the appropriate number of hours reviewing the law and then show it to an attorney to review for less than what it would cost to have that attorney do the work in the first place. Many lawyers won't do this kind of work because of the liability, but some will.

If you are doing exactly the same things as most people, out of the box trusts can be useful. Any changes beyond names and specific property can cause problems.