New Entrant In The Online Wills Marketplace

Canadian-based online-forms company Dynamic Lawyers will be launching an Australian online Wills service in May 2012.

The Australian venture is the result of a collaboration between Canadian lawyer Michael Carabash, the founder and president of Dynamic Lawyers and Australian lawyer Maria Linkenbagh.

Legal Practice Intelligence  interviewed Michael Carabash about the Australian venture:


  What makes your Wills better or different to the Wills already available online in Australia?

  We believe that our Will-O-Matic system is the most advanced, comprehensive, and flexible way to make a simple Will in Australia.  In a matter of minutes, the Will-O-Matic guides users through important questions (e.g. selecting their Executor and Trustee, giving specific gifts of cash / property / real estate / charity, dividing up the residue or left over assets of their estate, selecting guardians for their minor children and more) and the resulting Will is a very comprehensive and clearly drafted document.

We offer lots of guidance along the way to finalizing the Will; for example, every user receives FREE signing instructions (to ensure that the Will is executed correctly, according to the applicable law) and a comprehensive eBook about Wills in their State.

In a nutshell, what really sets us apart from other online Wills services are the following:

• We don’t simply provide a template document; rather our Will-O-Matic system instantly creates a custom-tailored Will based on a user’s inputs
• Our Will-O-Matic system takes into account State and Commonwealth laws
• We are not a nameless company offering a one-size fits all solution
• We will constantly be updating our Will-O-Matic system as Wills laws change (we already do this in Canada)
• The resulting Will is far more comprehensive than anything out there
• We provide users with a lot of guidance and an education about Wills (for example with our comprehensive eBook)
• We ask the tough questions that even some lawyers may not ask (e.g. what happens if you no longer own the property that you are gifting in your Will? Do you want the gift to be cancelled or go to someone else)?
•  We educate users about Superannuation and life insurance matters (something others neglect to do)
•  We will have a lawyer-review option through Maria Linkenbagh for those users who need additional help
 
The bottom line is that Maria and I are both lawyers (albeit in different countries) and we collaborated to make sure that the Australian Will-O-Matic system is the best on the market for everyday Australians.


 How did it come about that Michael Carabash and Maria Linkenbagh decided to collaborate?

  I was looking for a senior and tech savvy lawyer who could represent our interests in Australia and who could make sure that our Will-O-Matic system was properly “Australianised”. Having Maria – and her wealth of knowledge and experience on Wills – tell us the ‘realities’ of Australian Wills laws was truly the icing on the cake.  Australians will benefit greatly because of her insights into our Will-O-Matic system.


 Why Australia?

  Actually, I was thinking about expanding internationally.  But where to start?  My first thought was the U.S., but there’s a lot of competition there (e.g. Legalzoom, Rocket Lawyer). Then I thought about Australia. It resembled Canada in a lot of ways (e.g. Wills laws, population size, etc.). So I figured it would be easier to make a big splash in Australia than make a tiny ripple in the U.S.  And then I found Maria through the Internet and here we are now.  After we’ve established ourselves in Australia, I will be looking to expand into other countries.

 Michael, thank you very much for your generous responses.

The Australian website can be found at www.dynamiclaw.com.au

Published 12 April 2012       © 2012 Legal Practice Intelligence