• A will instructs what should be done with your money and property when you die.
• A power of attorney instructs what should be done with your money and property should you become incapacitated.
• A health care proxy instructs how you should be cared for should you become incapacitated.

These should be simple, easily understood, documents, not complicated documents that only the drafting attorney can understand. Nor, with few exceptions, should these documents be expensive.

When I represent a client, or often a couple, I first meet with the client and help her or him make decisions. I then create the documents and email them to my client to be sure they are satisfactory. Then I schedule a will signing with witnesses in my office where I preside over the necessary formalities to make the documents legally enforceable.

Some law firms push living wills, frightening clients with horror stories of the expense of contested probate cases. However, these law firms change more for drafting a living trust, then for drafting a will, and do not disclose how few estates are actually contested. I, of course, can draft all types of trusts, but, generally, a simple will serves my client’s needs best.