Do I really need a Will?

I wouldn't think so?

1) don't do it online if you live in LA.
2) unless your estate is very large or complicated, just write it out and sign it.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer.

Honestly, after thinking about it, I would find a new FA. This guy sounds like a crook.

First off, $1500 seems steep. Unless I am creating several trusts and doing some other exotic stuff, I'm not coming close to $1500 for a couple of wills. In fact, it would be closer to $500 with POAs included.

In your situation you probably need something. Where do you want your property to go at this time if both of you died in the same instance or relatively close to each other?

When you do have children it is a completely different ballgame and you absolutely need a will in Louisiana unless you want to be beholden to the courts and your children for doing anything with former community property. All separate property belongs to the children.

Everyone of adult age should have a will, unless they have no children or significant investments and they have no small business ownership. If that is the case for you, take a look at the intestate laws in LA, and if you are ok with everything, you can skip getting a will.

Otherwise, I would consider having one. $1,500 for a simple will for two people is INSANE. If you were in any state but LA, you could spend $70 and buy the will maker program by Quicken/Nolo and be just fine.

It should not take an attorney more than an hour for each of you. All they are going to dull is pull out a generic one, fill in the names, and sign.

You could also just write your own, get it notrarized and witnessed.

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Your FA is getting a kickback of that

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No. But he likely gets referrals from this attorney and vice versa. Not unusual, not suspect, and not necessarily bad.

I usually recommend couples get one. They are simple, and my personal stance is I want the say in how my assets are left behind. I don't want that left up to the state. That is a personal preference though.


However, with that said,

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$1500 for me and my husband.

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That sounds really pricey, unless you are really lying about how large your estate is

The people I've sent clients to here in Bham are like $500 at the most for a simple will, but is usually less than that.

You should at least have a living will; which outlines whether or not you want extreme measures taken etc...

I would think that $1500 is a little high unless you have tons of assets and need some sort of trust. If you do need a trust, these can easily start getting up over $1500 depending on your needs.

For what it's worth, I write free wills all the time if they are simple with little to no specific bequests. Helps with pro bono requirements for the Bar. (not in LA though)

OP, I'm not really in a position to say whether you should skip a will, try and do it yourself, or get legal advice from an attorney. But the one thing you should unquestionably not do is take legal advice from non-attorneys on the Rant (or other random internet sites). It's amazing how often I see people turn to the OT for legal advice and get responses that are, literally, 180 degrees incorrect - as in, the response would be greatly improved by adding the word "not" in every single sentence. Just because people talk confidently about things doesn't mean they're actually providing good advice. My 2 cents.