Internet wills and trusts are

• useless in preventing probate--even in simple situations;
• useless in planning for special needs;
• useless in planning for second marriage situations;
• useless in preventing fraud;
• useless in planning for complex distributions; and
• useless in providing medicaid and long-term care options;

Internet wills and trusts are not only useless, they often result in expensive proceedings to fix the problems caused by the documents.

We prove in this section how internet document websites know their documents are useless, and how they continue to sell these documents using distrubing marketing practices that cross the line into consumer fraud.  

Let's start with LegalZoom.  First, two class action lawsuits were recently filed against LegalZoom, in California and in Missouri, essentially alleging that LegalZoom is engaging in deceptive marketing practices or the unauthorized practice of law.  The links give the disturbing details. (On the Missouri link, wait a few seconds for the documents to download and then scroll to page 8 for the complaint.) 

Unfortunately, the California plaintiffs let LegalZoom off the hook by settling their claims with the company.  Further, unfortunately, we are fairly confident LegalZoom will win the Missouri case–but not because they are innocent of selling useless documents or engaging in questionable marketing practices or the unlawful practice of law!  Rather, they will win because they have cloaked themselves so carefully in fine print legalese that it will be impossible to prove they were doing anything legally wrong. Their defense will be summarized best in their own online disclaimer  (all statements in all categories of this section which appear in red are taken directly from LegalZoom's website):

LegalZoom is not responsible for any loss, injury, claim, liability, or damage related to your use of this site or any site linked to this site.

Technically and legally, they will argue, they were not misleading anyone. The buyer was warned, repeatedly, that LegalZoom is not a law firm, does not practice law, and that the documents purchased from the site may not legally work!  If you want to understand more how LegalZoom and other internet purveyors warn their victims that what they buy could well be useless and even dangerous, click on any one of the sidebar categories.