Q: My friend informed me that he wants me to inherit his estate and wants me to draw up the documents to do so.
Is this legal to do so?
A: Your friend would need some independent legal advice. Kansas law provides that: "Any provision in a will, written or prepared for another person, that gives the writer or preparer or the writer's or preparer's parent, children, issue, sibling or spouse any devise or bequest is invalid unless...it affirmatively appears that the testator had read or knew the contents of the will and had independent legal advice with reference thereto. K.S.A. 59-605. A document you prepare or have someone else prepare for you would need to be provided to your friend, he would need to meet with an independent attorney who could advise him, and there would need to be affirmative proof that he read the document or that someone read the document to him and he "knew" the contents before he signed it. If your friend were to hire his own attorney and have the document drafted by his own attorney, it would eliminate the need for potentially two different attorneys.
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