Prepare your legal documents online
Low-cost Texas Wills, Powers of Attorney and Directives prepared online, from hofheinzlaw.com, the online document service of the Law Office of Walter Wm. Hofheinz.
Do You Need a Lawyer to Make a Will in Texas?
No. Texas does not require a lawyer to make a Will.
A Will written entirely in your own handwriting is valid in Texas with no witnesses at all — Tex. Est. Code § 251.052 — and a document generated and executed correctly can be perfectly good. This site offers a Will in a system created by a lawyer for straightforward situations.
So the useful question is not whether you are required to use a lawyer. It is what you get if you do.
Four things, mostly. A document written for Texas law rather than adapted from somewhere else. Protective trust provisions, in case something happens while your children are young or a beneficiary cannot manage money. Signing instructions that are correct, which is where homemade Wills most often fail. And advice on problems you may not know you have.
When not to use this service
There are situations where this service is not the right answer, and you should call this office or another lawyer instead:
- A taxable estate
- A beneficiary with a disability who receives or may need public benefits
- A closely held business, professional practice, or management interest in a partnership or LLC
- Children from a prior relationship, yours or your spouse's
- A family where a dispute is already brewing
- A divorce in progress
- Real property outside Texas
- Other situations that are not straightforward
There is no revocable trust in this service. Popular press to the contrary, they are difficult to fund and maintain properly, and a trust that is not funded does nothing.
Those situations need a conversation and advice, not only a good document.
The full list, with more on who this service is for: Online Wills in Texas — whether this service fits your situation.
What's offered
This site lets you prepare high-quality documents immediately:
- Simple Will with protective trust – $125 Learn more →
- Power of Attorney for property management – $20 Learn more →
- Medical Power of Attorney – $20 Learn more →
- Directive to Physicians (Living Will) – No charge Learn more →
You have thirty days after preparation to revise each document. The name of the person for whom a document was prepared cannot be changed.
Supplemental services such as consultations and supervised Will executions ($400) are available. Call for details.
How it works
- Create a client account and provide the needed information. All information is treated as attorney-client communication. Privacy policy.
- Choose the services you need.
- Make payment by major credit card or electronic check.
- Enter and verify information needed to produce your customized documents.
- Review and download your documents immediately. Remember: documents are not legally effective until signed as instructed.
You have thirty days after preparation to revise each document. The name of the person for whom a document was prepared cannot be changed.
The scope of the engagement, revisions and refunds are set out in the terms of the online document service; how it works walks through each step.
Need help deciding? Email Walter at wwh@hofheinzlaw.com.
Ready to begin?