A Bad Will May Be Worse Than No Will At All

Full analysis

Devin Carroll and John Ross argue that a flawed DIY will can be more harmful than dying without one. If you have no will, your state's probate code steps in with relatively clear rules about who inherits what. A defective will, by contrast, muddies those instructions and creates grounds for litigation — potentially costing the estate far more in legal fees and family conflict than the will was meant to prevent. The specific example reviewed in this episode showed that a will can look professionally formatted, include correct article headings and proper signatures, and still be legally dangerous. The takeaway for anyone tempted to use AI or an online template before a trip or other deadline: the document's appearance of legitimacy is itself part of the risk.