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Title: Quicken Willmaker Plus 2008 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with CD-ROM)
ISBN: 1413307167
Author:
Editors of Nolo
Publicate Date: 2007-10-01
Publish: 2007-10-01
List Price: $49.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $30.75
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $25.00
Amazon Merchant Price: $34.31
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| Customer Review: |
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1: EAsy to use and appears to be really complete
I am at the age where a will and living will are more important and decided it was time to get working on them. I got Willmaker the other day and in just a few minutes had a draft of a living will and am well on my way to having a will in place. There is some confusion on how to set up my step-children in my will, but the descriptions and the included book assure me I'll get the help I need to accomplish it. Basically it goes step-by-step, asking questions as you go along until you are done - VERY simple to use. This software/book combination will allow you to file numerous legal documents including Bill of Sales, Power of Attorney and Medical care requests. Heck, it even allows you to leave your money to your cat if you wish. Since all of the people you put into the system are saved, when you need to fill out a new form, you don't have to repeat any of that information - Willmaker does it for you. While I intend to run anything this product produces through a real attorney for protection, it certainly will save me hundreds of dollars on drafts. Like any other Quicken product, this is first-class.
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2: Awesome product to get your affairs in order.
I really liked receiving the book along with the CD. It was a great bundle. It has helpful advice especially when helping someone else prepare a will, which is my intended purpose in getting this program. It was saying that you need a witness to verify that you only typed what the person wanted you to rather than typing your own thoughts. I had no idea I needed a witness to prepare my father's will. I learned something in the first 5 pages of the book.
The program loaded without a problem on my windows xp system. I did not try to load it on my windows vista as I've had nothing but trouble with windows vista and didn't want one more headache.
There were all the forms we needed and able to print out. This program was not good in Louisiana. It was convenient to be able to plan one's thoughts and getting it on paper without having the stress of finding an estate attorney much less paying for one. Overall a good investment.
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3: Makes it easy to create legal documents
Writing a will is one of those things that I know that I should do but never get around to doing. It's not that I don't understand the importance of it, but I could never just sit myself down and do it. Besides a will, there just seems to be too many documents that needed to be completed besides a will - Health Care Directives, Power of Attorney Documents - you name it. For my situation (single home owner) which documents do I need?
At first glance, this book can seem daunting - at over 600 pages, there's a lot of information there to look over. And the title of this book ("WillMaker") is misleading - creating a will is covered by about a third of this book. The remaining chapters of this book deal with trusts and all those other legal documents that you hear about but aren't sure whether you need them or not.
I started the entire process by skimming the book - let's face it - if I'm iffy about spending the time to write a will, do I really want to spend the time to read about 200 pages of text? I'm glad to say that the book is an easy read - it doesn't talk down to you, yet is easy to understand. There are clear examples of situations to help you to understand the concepts.
After skimming the book, I decided to install the software. I have a Windows computer with XP and found that the software installed very easily. After installation, I was given the option to register (and received a $10 coupon for my next Nolo product - thank you). The software also checks for updates (if you ever used TurboTax - it works exactly like that - every time you open the program, it wants to check for updates), and if it finds any updates from its website, downloads and installs those updates.
The software makes creating documents easy. A simple question at the start of the program helps the program determine which documents you need. You can then create these documents as you wish. What I liked is that it uses a split screen - on the left side of the screen it asks you a question (i.e. do you have pets?) and on the right side there is online help that provides guidance as to what the question entails and what you need to do. Just answer the question and click Next.
Included with this book and software is a CD that contains an eBook for people who are Executors of other people's estate. It's a 500+ page book in PDF format that while I don't need, is a very nice-to-have.
All in all, this product can help you to overcome your hesitations in creating those needed legal documents. Nicely done!
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4: Used For A Multitude of Forms
This review is for the Quicken Willmaker Plus 2009 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with Software), and I will try to keep it simple:
1) The software is easy to load, use, and understand. I do not do much work with software programs, and the programs didn't give me any problems.
2) I was thrilled with the bonus executor cd-rom. I am the executor of my mother's estate, and I don't have any previous experience with those matters; it will also be a help to our executors, should the need arise.
3) We like to be prepared for any emergency, and have back-up plans for our back-up plans, so the extra forms were right up our alley. For example, we travel without our dogs, so we need to authorize their caretaker to make medical decisions in an emergency, which also makes things easier for our vet.
4) The book itself is extremely detailed and well-organized, so I was able to find answers to my questions without a hassle.
We used another source to create our original will, but we used Nolo to make updates, and create the other forms that are useful to us.
I think anyone would find what they are looking for in this package, but I highly recommend this to parents who are worried about their children's future in any scenario. You may also want to read Nolo's Encyclopedia of Everyday Law: Answers to Your Most Frequently Asked Legal Questions.
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5: Excellent as usual
Nolo Press publishes excellent legal products to help us avoid over priced con artist lawyers. This is no exception. We produced all the Estate Planning paperwork we need for just a few dollars. Granted, if you have a very complicated situation it might not be for you. But even then, you could do a lot with this and then have a lawyer look it over and save you money by doing a lot of the paperwork yourself.
Besides, most people with complex situations have the dough to hire a lawyer!
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