PC Packages Streamline Living Will Creation

Terri Schiavo case highlights need for making medical-decision wishes clear.

Michael S. Lasky, special to PC World

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.

Will-Making Software Sales Explode

In fact, the Schiavo controversy has unleashed an unprecedented rush in sales of will-creation software. "Our sales of WillMaker Plus 2005 doubled while the Terri Schiavo controversy was in the news, and since her death they have tripled," notes a spokesperson for do-it-yourself legal publisher Nolo. The package climbed into the top 10 software bestseller chart at Amazon.com after languishing well below the top 100. Likewise, the makers of Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit, which includes living will documents, say their software also has seen a "tremendous increase" in sales. Clearly, consumers are less resistant not only to creating the important health directive documents--particularly in light of the discomforting attention in the news and in Congress for what should have been a private family matter--but also to using software instead of an attorney. And why not? All of these software packages have been vetted by legal experts and updated to fit the particular laws of each of the 50 states.

As personal finance expert Suze Orman tells PC World about her package: "The documents in my kit were designed to be both state-specific when needed and to take advantage of certain choice of forum provisions that more traditional attorneys rarely, if ever, think about and most have forgotten since law school. However, the kit is not a one-size-fits-all. The way you answer a question will bring up the appropriate document you need."

"After the documents are completed, the real test comes in," Orman continues. "Do you understand what you have just created? What you are usually paying for is the lawyer to sit down and explain it to you. That is why they are so expensive. We have tried to do that with our software but without the cost." Orman's personal attorney Janet Dobrovolny not only helped create the forms but also created audio voice-overs to explain the legalese to users.

No appointments are needed to use these PC-friendly packages, and the expense is only $40 or less. I found using the shipping versions of each of the three packages and taking a practice run through living will creation at Legalzoom.com to be painless, quick, and even informative. The only slight hassle I encountered was finding the required witnesses or a notary public (depending on your state's requirements).

Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit

For just $13.50, Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit is not only a great value, but the easiest of the three will-preparation packages I tried. With the same demonstrative and instructional tone she uses on her PBS television shows, Orman provides audio voice-overs at just about every step. Sometimes they are annoyingly dumbed-down but, for the most part, they help to explain exactly what you are filling in on each page of the legal form--and why.

When a more detailed legal explanation is needed, Dobrovolny, Orman's attorney, chimes in. The actual grunt work in creating a living will and health care directive for the user amounts to filling in personal data and selecting one of the choices for the different possible scenarios should you require life support.

The welcome screen for Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit includes an elucidating Suze voice-over to properly inform you from the start.

After the interview process (and the context-sensitive audio makes you feel like you've been in an actual rather than virtual interview), your document can be previewed and printed out for witness signatures. Wills, revocable trusts, and power of attorney must-have documents also are included, as are links to request personal documentation such as birth and death certificates, Social Security statements, and military records. Suze Orman's Will and Trust Kit requires an Internet connection to work properly.

Time needed to create a living will: 20 minutes.

WillMaker Plus 2005

Nolo's $40 Quicken WillMaker Plus 2005 also uses an interview approach for its estate planning, but unlike Suze Orman's software, it is totally text-based. Lucid, easy-to-understand explanations for each of the some four dozen documents and their respective questionnaire choices make it a breeze to follow and respond.

All the answers to the questions you may have about what you are filling in appear on the same screen in Nolo's Quicken WillMaker Plus.

A more detailed legal reference manual is also a click away with context-sensitive help or an A to Z guide. Like the other software packages, WillMaker Plus remembers names, addresses, and other data you've entered so that when you need to fill in the same data, it automatically completes those fields for you.When you complete a particular document, it is added below its main screen listing so you can keep track of what you've completed.

Each document you create in WillMaker Plus is listed so that there's no confusion about whose document it is.

When you've finished entering data, you can preview the document and print it out to get the required signatures. Nolo has a 30-year track record in producing highly vetted do-it-yourself legal documents, and while each screen in WillMaker Plus is packed with reading material, the program is straightforward and assuredly resourceful. Online updates are free for the calendar year listed in the package's title.

Time needed to create a living will: 20 minutes.

Broderbund WillWriter Deluxe

Broderbund's $30 WillWriter Deluxe boasts over 270 legal forms and letters for 2005 for estate planning, health care, power of attorney, and trusts and wills.

That's all well and good, but this package gets an immediate strike against it for changing the Windows configuration during its setup. Before I installed it, I never needed to log on to Windows, but for its security setup, WillWriter creates a virtual Windows user account that forces a log-on screen in Windows XP whether you want it or not. While you can create documents for multiple names, the process of creating and accessing them is labored and can produce flawed documents.

By not choosing the approprite user name, you can inadvertently create flawed documents such as a document for a New York resident that uses California laws.

The actual form-filling process is easy, following a questionnaire format, but with this software you see preview windows of the actual document with your responses filled in. Alas, this package's software design flaws and the quality of its competitors compel me to recommend against it.

Time needed to create a living will: 12 minutes.

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.

Just the questions, ma'am: LegalZoom.com's uncluttered pages make it easy for you to zero in on the essential issues.

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.