Most of the boilerplate legal documents you find online are perfectly legal.  Almost all of the documents attorneys use are templates where a staff member simply fills in the blanks or makes slight changes.

The big issue with preparing these documents yourself so that they will withstand a legal challenge is that each state has certain formalities in the execution (signing) that must be followed.  So no matter your intent, the document could be set aside on a technicality if they are not signed in accordance with your state law.  That is to ensure the validity of the documents.

Now with that said, the documents you ask about are pretty simple, quick, and inexpensive if you don't have a complicated estate.  I would recommend spending a couple hundred dollars and having an attorney on the hook for making sure they are done properly.

If you don't want to do that, just do your homework and make sure you follow your state's requirements for ensuring the documents are executed properly.

Hope that helps!     

This is not legal advice.  I am not your lawyer.  I advise that you see an attorney in your state.

However, I am an attorney who has practiced in four states, specializing in wills, trusts and estate administration. There is a joke among those of us who specialize in wills and estate administration, that all attorneys think they can write a will  -- and under the licensing they are correct.  However, that would be as reckless as someone like me, who rarely goes in a courtroom, volunteering to defend my neighbor on a criminal charge.   I have made far more in legal fees in cases where the decedent thought they would save money by "doing it themselves". (Consider nearly $30,000 in legal fees to settle an estate where the decedent wrote his own will and all of his estate was to pass to his only child.  It would have cost him less than $1000 to have had a professionally prepared will and the cost to settle his estate would have been minimal.  I think that he engaged in false economy.) A competent attorney does far more than merely fill in the blanks.  The attorney determines which type of will, etc. is appropriate for your situation. 

Yes, the on-line will may be perfectly legal -- but will it accomplish your objectives?  How will you know?  Many people think they have an simple estate but at in interview with a competent attorney discover that they do not.  One of my favorite examples is a will that says "if my spouse and children do not survive me, I give my estate to my brother's children" .  That may seem simple enough.  I know who my brother's children are.  However, if my brother is alive at my death my estate will have to remain open until my brother dies, maybe 30+ years later, because under the law he might have more children.

If your situation is truly quite simple, the costs of having your affairs put inorder will be reasonable. (And I practice in a very high-priced urban area.) If your situation is not as simple as you think, wouldn't you rather learn that upfront.

And by the way, the witnessing execution requirements are usually different for Wills, Living Wills, Heathcare Directives even within the same state.  What's a "competent" witness?  Can a family member witness?  Can a healthcare provider witness a Living Will? What's the proper notary jurat on each document?  What's the effect of selecting an Executor who doesn't live in your state?

-- Just my two cents worth.

I guess you will get all kind of advice and related hear say.
I offer the following as our experience and not as legal advice.
Any will or trust will only be as good as the beneficiaries allow it to be.

I can only say that we had a golf "buddy" friend (cpa) help make ours. We used a "Revocable Living Trust Agreement Kit" to prepare our own Living Trust Agreement.
The finalized package was witnessed and notarized at our bank. The package was validated and recorded at the county clerks office, about 18 years ago. My wife has since passed and there was no problem. The Trust was self probated.

The package included--
Revocable Living Trust
Living will
Power of Attorney
Medical Power of Attorney
Trusts are taxable entity unless the income is passed through to the beneficiaries.
Trust take precedence over wills.
Another thing to remember is the need for a medical directive/power of attorney in order to discuss medical info of other members of you family at Doctors/hospital.


The kit we used was:

S.J.T. Enterprises, Inc , 1-800-326-7419

Hope this is still a good No.