I am forever being asked by clients, "Why can't I just write my own will? Why not put everything in both names? Why can't I just use a simple form from the stationary store? Why do I need an expensive lawyer at all? All I want to do is leave it to my kids. I'm not rich. Why do I even need a will?"

Probate seems to be a scary word to many people. It brings up images of the Charles Dickens book "Bleak House" where lawyers and the courts tied up distribution to the heirs (persons who inherit the estate) for decades until finally everything was gone.