Chas Rampenthal expects to get more business in the wake of Michael Jackson's death, but he doesn't peddle CDs, posters or celebrity memorabilia.
Rampenthal sells online wills. And as general counsel of LegalZoom.com, he noticed a sharp uptick in demand when model Anna Nicole Smith died in 2007, triggering a messy battle over her estate.
"All that publicity reminded people they should have an up-to-date will," he said.
The same could happen as Jackson's estate gets sorted out. Experts in the field agree that it's important to have an up-to-date will, and probably also a trust, to ensure that whatever you have left over when you die goes where you want, whether to family members, outsiders or charities. Otherwise, the state takes over and doles out the estate according to law.
Also, a properly written estate plan can avoid the legal process of probate, which can drain funds from the estate.
The cost of using an attorney to put together a comprehensive estate plan starts at about $1,500 and can skyrocket from there, depending on how complicated a person's finances and situation are.
It's perfectly legal to produce your own will, however, without a lawyer, and the cost for that starts at zero.
In California, a handwritten will is legal, as long as it's completely handwritten (no typing or forms allowed) and has a valid signature. It doesn't even need to be dated or signed by witnesses, although those measures could help if the will were challenged.
Otherwise, non-attorney wills can be done with the aid of books, CD-ROMs and websites (those would have to be dated and witnessed).
But it is advisable to go the do-it-yourself route?
"You can certainly have situations where using form documents, without an attorney, works just fine," said Robert Sacks, a Los Angeles attorney whose firm handles battles over wills and trusts but doesn't produce the documents.
As long as the situation is straightforward and highly unlikely to bring on challenges.
"Let's say you are happily married, 30 years old, and have two kids, and all you want to do is leave everything to your spouse, and if he or she goes first, then to the kids," said Eric Rakowski, a UC Berkeley law professor who teaches wills and trusts.
"Then it would probably be OK to use forms. But there are risks."
Online packages sold by LegalZoom.com start at $69 and go up to $119; at the higher price level you get same-day processing if you need that will quick.
