Write your will online

WHILE many industries have taken to the Internet to offer online services and tap new markets, the legal sector has yet to make a big move to the digital platform.

But with the change in the times and technology, lawyer Max Yong noted that there was an opportunity for the legal industry to make itself more accessible to the public by going online.

“With the use of the Internet growing by leaps and bounds, you see more firms using the Internet to promote their practices. But that’s about it. No one has embarked on providing online services,” he said.

Yong, founder of Thywillbedone Sdn Bhd, has made the first move in offering a will-writing service through its website.

Yong says even though the use of the Internet has grown by leaps and bounds, legal firms use the Internet only to promote their practices.

He launched the website in May this year but the idea really came about as early as five years ago.

But he spent much of the early part of those five years just toying with the idea and thinking through the objective for his new project.

When he finally got down to it, it took about a year to build the website and for Yong to research and draft out his templates.

He said the wills made through Thywillbedone were general in nature and did not go into specific items.

“Australia is already doing it. And in the US, they have developed a few apps whereby people can have online instant contracts. It is an affirmation of the direction that I am taking. But we have not reached their stage yet,” he said.

While not every legal document can be produced over the Internet, Yong explained that a will document could be legally produced online as it only required the author to have two proper witnesses.

One of Yong’s main challenges in ensuring Thywillbedone is successful is the fact that many people are not aware of the necessity or importance of writing a will.

It took Yong a year to draft the templates and build his website. 

“Anything related to death is considered a taboo. You only think of a will when death is a reality. And there is a lack of knowledge about what happens to your estate when one person passes on,” he said.

But Yong is hopeful and optimistic that people’s perception on wills is changing, even if slowly.

“In Malaysia, we have seen the commercialisation of will writing. Now we have companies that specialise in this, so we are slowly seeing will writing taken out of the hands of lawyers. And it is a growing business for them,” he added.

He also noted that local banks had also gone into will writing as a complementary service to their clients since early last year.

Yong has plans to expand the services of Thywillbedone and is looking to add a wasiat writing option by the end of the year.

“There are plans to add more features to our will-writing service. People’s assets have changed over the years. Now, there are things such as digital assets. We all have social media and online accounts. And these need to be dealt with moving forward.

“But we have spent a lot of time improving and modifying what we have now. So we are ready to fully embark on promoting and making this service accessible and affordable for everyone,” he said.