The "Do It Yourself" Last Will & Testament (Don't Do it)

"Leaping . . .
without looking
often means action
without accomplishment."
Sherman v. Stack, 86 Misc. 2d 219, 221, 380 N.Y.S.2d 914, 915 (Civ. Ct. 1976)

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HERE IS AN INDISPUTABLE FACT:
The law can "fill in" where your Do-it-yourself Last Will & Testament falls silent.

Meaning that if you missed something important (i.e., failed to account for the applicable law), your ultimate wishes may never be carried out according to what you expected when you-did-yourself.

UNFORESEEN THINGS HAPPEN:
That's why it is safer to retain an experienced attorney for your estate planning.
Sure, you can do excellent research on-line
and read every inch of a document before your sign it . . .  
but does that adequately replace the training and expertise of a licensed attorney?

A TALE OF WOE:
So, a Do-it-yourself Last Will & Testament 
executed by a recently deceased person came across my desk. 
Without going into details, the situation is literally a hot mess:
The Last Will & Testament was offered  for probate.
The folks who were purposely left out of the Will (disinherited) want to stop the process. 
They want "their" money despite what the Do-it-yourself Last Will & Testament says. 
And they are determined to get what they want.
You see, that is why they retained an estate lawyer.

Unfortunately for the deceased Do-It-Yourselfer, there is a very strong likelihood that the Surrogate's Court will not probate the  Do-it-yourself Last Will & Testament - meaning that
(1) the Law will determine the who, what, when, where and how much of the deceased's property, and
(2) the disinherited folks can legally walk away with pockets full of the deceased's money.

I  believe that this situation is far from what Mr. or Ms. Do-It-Yourself had planned.