live willfully, and write your will
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Can I write my own will?
For the vast majority of us, the answer is yes, especially if your estate planning needs are relatively simple. Your estate ceases to be simple, however, if it is worth more than the federal estate tax limit, set at $2 million per person ($4 million for married couples) until 2008. The amount per person climbs to $3.5 million by 2009, but Congress is scheduled to repeal that increased limit in 2010. If that happens, the federal estate tax limit reverts back to $1 million unless Congress extends the increase.
If the value of your estate is over that limit, it poses special federal tax-planning problems. Your will also becomes more complex if you want to set up special trusts or make conditional gifts.
There are many good sources of information that will help you write a will using self-help materials (or to decide to hire a lawyer). Nolo.com has a lot of free information at its Wills Resource Center, as well as a number of products to purchase, which are compared here. Nolo.com has also created two relevant podcasts: Do You Need a Will or Trust? and Can You Prepare Your Own Will?. As usual, your reference librarian can assist you — perhaps by pulling Law for the Layperson (3rd Edition, 2006, 485 pp.), by Diane Murley and Amber Hewette, off the shelf.
update ((Jan. 11, 2007): At SSRN, you can dowload a lengthy paper aimed at the estate planning needs of “people of modest wealth”, titled “Estate Planning for Persons with Less Than $5 Million” (March 2007), written by Blattmachr, Jonathan G.; Slade, Georgiana J.; and Crawford, Bridget J. The article explains that lifetime transfers are among the most effective ways to reduce estate taxes, and “details and evaluates eleven strategies that may apply to clients in the modest wealth category.”

Nolo’s Simple Will Book, by attorney Denis Clifford (available in hardcopy or as an e-book).
Quicken’s WillMaker Plus 2007 software (also downloadable)

Stop procrastinating and write your will! Then, if you’re on a roll, check out more HALT resources on Estate Planning and Avoiding Probate.
