Category: Comprehensive

Technology has placed the world under our fingertips, making everything from mundane tasks to complex project planning a breeze. The digital era comes with many perks and its effects are reverberating across a wide range of industries, including the legal world. Estate planning in particular has witnessed a significant shift with the rise of legal platforms that create wills online.

This has allowed legal professionals to simplify the process of will creation, minimising the need for extensive paperwork and ensuring it is accessible to people across all walks of life. The inclusive aspect of online wills has made it a popular and convenient legal framework that’s crucial for any modern-day estate plan in the digital age.

This article brings you tips for writing a comprehensive will using online legal platforms. Let’s dive in!

Efficiency in Will Writing

Online wills are similar to traditional wills and are legally binding. However, they differ in terms of the processes involved and make the experience of writing a will more streamlined and organised. While traditional wills require documentation, endless paperwork, drafts and meetings with solicitors, an online will removes this stress and ensures your will-writing process is a hassle-free one.

It’s also easily accessible and a cost-effective option for those who can’t afford a solicitor, have mobility issues or want more convenience. As part of a comprehensive will writing process, an online will offers you the ease to update and revise your will as and when the need arises.

Simplified Process

Legal jargon with its nuanced glossary isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. An online will simplifies the will writing process and eliminates the need to understand complex legal terminology. Instead, it offers a straightforward framework, laid out in sections with clear instructions. This helps clear up confusion or potential misunderstanding of will requirements.

Additionally, with the growing integration of AI-based applications, online legal platforms have built-in tools to identify mistakes on legal forms. It helps minimise errors and revisions and does away with the need for multiple drafts like it is in traditional will writing. Since legal firms also use legally compliant will templates, you do not have to worry about any potential missteps when writing your will online.

Digital Accessibility and Integration

Perhaps one of the strongest points of writing an online will is its ability to be accessible from wherever you are and its integration with other digital platforms and technologies. While you create your will online, you can easily access it through your mobile device or tablet, making it easy to review and update your will irrespective of your physical location. This is especially relevant for those leading a digital nomad lifestyle or people who travel abroad regularly for work or leisure.

Increased Privacy and Protection

Since online wills reduce paperwork and are stored electronically, it also offers you increased privacy and protection. Firms that offer legal services online often use encryption technologies to secure sensitive information, such as those contained in a will document.

This ensures your data stays safe and secure while preventing its potential misuse from falling into the wrong hands. Protection of physical will documents doesn’t come with such a high level of security, making an online will an excellent option to keep your will details private and confidential.

Inclusion of Digital Assets

As people increasingly use digital devices and tools to create, store and share digital content, it is also a boon for those who want to include digital assets as part of their estate plan. Therefore, it is perhaps fitting that an online digital estate has an online will to complement it.

While the laws pertaining to digital assets are still evolving and are applied differently in various jurisdictions, online legal services stay updated on these and make relevant changes to their will formats. This removes the stress of checking for local laws regarding your digital estate and helps you plan for them using an online will.

Additional Considerations

While online wills are an increasingly popular option that is both cost-effective and convenient to use, it may not be suitable for every situation. Creating a will online is best suited for those with straightforward family arrangements or who have clear lines of succession.

Complex families with more than one line of succession or have sizable estates may have to consider a more nuanced approach. An online will may be limited in this regard and would require you to consult a solicitor for a more comprehensive estate plan. Online wills may also not be suitable for those with digital estates of substantial value (crypto, bitcoin, altcoin etc).

Conclusion

Online wills are advantageous for a growing number of people because of their various benefits over traditional wills. Legal firms are also taking this into consideration and broadening their range of services online, making it accessible and inclusive for everyone. Since they are cost-effective and easy to create, online wills will continue to be relevant for those with straightforward estate plans.