Will-Maker is designed to help you put together a legally enforceable will. This is important because if you die without having made one, you're said to be "intestate" and anything you leave behind (your "estate") gets divvied up according to strict guidelines that can cost your beneficiaries a lot of money--particularly in tax. Will-Maker uses Rapidocs technology, a way of creating personalised documents based on the way you answer a specific set of questions. It's a clear and easy to use program--the actual document appears on the left of the screen, the questions on the right. As you tab between questions, context-sensitive hint panels pop-up and if you need more advice, there's a Notes tab that you can click to get more detail.
Be prepared to answer questions you may not feel ready to consider quite yet ("Do you wish to donate your body to medical research?") and consult the notes carefully before filling in each part of the form. Make sure you read the disclaimers thoroughly as well. The authors make it clear what their obligations and liabilities are on numerous occasions. For example:
We will not have any liability to you at all if you use any document without obtaining appropriate legal advice as to its suitability for your particular requirements or where there has been any change in the law following the date of publication.
Such considerations make it important that you register the product too, so you can receive news of any important updates. You can appoint an unlimited number of beneficiaries (should you be so flush) appoint executors and trustees, make charitable donations, bestow legacies and make financial and guardianship provisions for the kids. The final document appears in a cut-down word processor so you can edit it before printing out. The result looks as it should--just like a real will. --Rob Beattie
