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WisconsinChristianNews.com
Volume 27, Issue 3
Three Problems with “Free” Online Forms
By Attorney Al Spiegel, McLario, Helm, Bertling & Spiegel Law Offices (See display ad on Page 40 of this issue of WCN) Summer 2026 With the vast array of information and ad- vice available on the
judge found no merit in the former stepson’s claim and awarded all assets according to the plan I had drafted.
and populated based on the informa- tion received from the individual preparing them. So, if an individual says they want a will, the internet will spit out some options. Those options
ternet. We start with reliable forms from trusted sources and tailor them to fit our clients’ needs.
3) Online Forms Offer No Confidentiality
The internet does not provide this
By far the scariest problem in prepar- ing online documents (even if they are never signed) is the problem of the lack of confidentiality. It is well known that an individual working with an attorney enjoys attorney-client privilege, which protects all exchanges between the two, even if the lawyer is later subpoe- naed to testify. Quite to the contrary, any information entered into online forms, including the information of others you wish to assist in the admin- istration of your affairs, should be as- sumed to be released to the organization that offered the “free” form and anyone else that organization chooses to sell your information to. This should be terrifying to anyone who understands the invasiveness of online organizations or anyone who under- stands the sin nature at any level. For all of these reasons, online forms must be avoided. They offer unac- countable, misdirected, and violative interactions for all who respond to their clarion call, so much so that doing no estate plan may in fact be better than a “free” online plan. The best option is to meet with a trusted estate plan at- torney and get a wisely-drafted, confi- dential plan from someone who will stand behind it when you need them to. McLario.com they build the old waste places (Isaiah 58:12), and they bring forth the answers to a world that is in dire need of that in which only the Lord can and will give (Mark 16:20; 1 Corinthians 4:20). Friends, the Church of Christ is to be on the offen- sive, not on the defensive. And as I have already stated, “We are to raise up disciples, not spectators.” When reading Ephesians 6:10-20, you will find that the armor of God is for the front, not the back. Fur- thermore, Scripture makes clear that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18), and that in ALL things we are made more than con- quers through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). Scripture tells us that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4), and that those that are born of God overcome this world, and the victory that overcomes this world is faith (1 John 5:4). How could it be otherwise? “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.” -John 14:12. Just think about that. He prom- ised the Church that they would do greater works, but is that what we are seeing in America today? Cer- tainly not. Friends, I have been throughout this country living out what I have just relayed to you. For the past 30 years, I have traveled this nation from coast to coast doing over 3,000 events, including 366 public high school assembly programs in 25 states, colleges, churches, prisons, festivals, patriot meetings and more. I have been featured on Fox News and the New York Times standing for our biblical and consti- tutional values. I also do national radio broadcasting into 160 affiliate stations across the country. And now, I have been receiving many requests to have church services online to fill the need of those who have no place to go to church on Sundays. Well, friends, we were honored by the requests. Therefore, we obliged. So, if you are ready to hear that truth that will set you free, the unadulterated Word of God, then join us every Sunday at 9:00 AM (Central Time) for messages that will open your eyes to see the Gospel as it was intended to be preached… with- out compromise by raising up disciples for Christ and His Kingdom. Go to www.SonsOfLibertyMedia.com, the top left side of the social media platforms, from 9 am central every Sunday.
internet, it is common for potential clients to consider whether it is wise to hire an estate planning attorney when so many forms are available online for free. For the following three reasons, those free forms may end up being ex- tremely expensive, and that paid estate planning attorney may end up being the best investment you could make.
1) Online Forms Offer No Accountability
Several years ago, a single client of mine passed away and left her assets to her children. This decision struck no one as odd except for the son of her former husband, who believed that his former stepmother would certainly have wanted to include him in her es- tate. This former stepson was so aggres- sive that he retained an attorney and filed a lawsuit against his stepmother’s son and took the matter all the way to trial, an endeavor that likely cost him well beyond $10,000. At that trial, I was a primary witness because, as the drafter of the document and the legal representative of the stepmother, I could offer testimony as to her compe- tence and her intention to have her forms say exactly what they said. The
service to individuals who choose to prepare their legal documents using online forms. In fact, the internet pro- vides NO services or accountability of any kind to individuals who use its forms. There is no one to ask ques- tions of, no one to verify intentions, and no one to make a claim against in the event something is wrong. In other words, the person using online forms takes all responsibility, legal and oth- erwise, for the documents that are cre- ated, documents that the individual did not understand enough to draft in the first place. 2) Online Forms Offer No Direction (or Correction) The second problem with online forms is that they will only be chosen
may be wills appropriate to various dif- ferent jurisdictions and various differ- ent circumstances, but the internet will not offer any meaningful advice about which is best (or legal). Beyond that, if the will is not actually the doc- ument the individual needed in the first place, the internet will offer redi- rection to the correct document. It will simply spit out the requested item like the vending machine it is. Such a process assumes that the person selecting the documents knows the documents well enough to select an appropriate one from myriad options. How do we know that assumption is not true? Because those of us who prepare estate planning documents for a living don’t get our forms off the in-
Join Us Every Sunday With ‘The Dean’ By Bradlee Dean, Sons of Liberty Summer 2026
SonsOfLibertyRadio.com
Last year, I highlighted what George Barna’s Re- search Group found that after surveying pastors from across the country as to why they were not preaching against the sins of the nation as Scripture commands. “What we are finding is that when we ask them (the pastors) about all the key issues of the day {90% of them are} telling us, yes, the Bible speaks to every one of these issues. Then we ask them: Well, are you teaching your people what the Bible says about those issues? – And the numbers drop… to less than 10% of pastors who say they will speak to it.” When researchers asked those pastors what else they are willing to do to get their people active in their political process, Barna said, “It is almost nothing.” What great awakening preacher George Whitefield conveyed long ago rings true today when he said, “The reason why congregations have been so dead is because they have dead men preaching to them.” Friends, the message that Jesus gives to His disci- ples, both past and present, is “Repent for the king- dom of Heaven is at hand.” When they repent, they will also preach repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:1). Read Matthew 3:2 and Mark 4:17. So, in the end, sheep will beget sheep. If pastors today are not preaching out against sin, it just means that they have never repented, are dead, and remain in their sins. This is what Scripture clearly teaches (1 Corinthians 15:14-17). The men of old who were used by the Lord to es- tablish this country are not at all the same in compar- ison to what it is that you see in America today. Preachers and theologians such as Augustine, Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, John Knox, Charles H. Spurgeon, William Booth and the Black Robed Regiment (Puritans) were a complete night and day difference from what reigns in our pulpits today (John 10:12). Read Jeremiah 6:16 and He- brews 11:32-34. Just look at the nation and what it has become in the last generation alone. The people of this nation are not repenting of their sins before God. They are embracing them in their rebellion and that, to their own demise (Psalm 9:16-17). What do repentant men do? They bring forth the fruits of repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10-11), they seek and save that which is lost, they raise up disciples,
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