(IDG) -- I'm 38 years old, married, with two children. We own a home and two cars. And we don't have a will. Or a health-care directive or power of attorney. Or any other legal documents governing guardianship of the kids or the disposal of our assets.

I guess you could say our affairs aren't exactly in order. I'm waiting for a break in the action--you know, a day when the kids don't need to be shuttled anywhere, when there's no work piling up on the desk or laundry in the basket. Then, I'll tackle The Will (and the visions of my death it will doubtless conjure up).

What makes my situation a tad complicated is that I'm married to an attorney. I can't, therefore, do a haphazard will or hire a lawyer to do it for me. I have to work with my husband on this one. So most of the time I just ignore the fact that we haven't addressed this issue.

But every now and then--like when Gary and I steal away for a weekend without the kids--I start to panic. What if something happens to us? Who will take care of the kids? Prior to one trip, I scribbled down a note about guardianship and swore I'd do something more formal when I returned. That was two years ago.

Procrastinate no more

So when I was asked to create my own will using legal software and then write about it, I jumped at the chance. It seemed like the perfect way to take matters into my own hands without ruffling my husband's feathers too much.

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Gary wasn't enthusiastic. He views legal software in the same category as trust mills (you know, the groups that hold free seminars in hotel rooms and advertise on late-night TV). Since I don't want to wind up in front of Judge Judy over this and since we both need to be comfortable with the end result, we made a deal: I would prepare all the documents, and he would review them. If either of us wasn't pleased, we'd go the old-fashioned route.

I looked at three programs: Expert Software's Do-It-Yourself Lawyer (version 3.0), Quicken Family Lawyer '99, and an early release of WillMaker 7.0 from Nolo Press. I focused on completing a will and a health-care directive. The latter is a living will (detailing one's wishes regarding life-prolonging measures) and a health-care power of attorney (which authorizes who should make medical decisions for me if I become incapacitated).

I expected to whip out the necessary documents in an afternoon--content that we had finally solved this critical problem. Gary went in prepared to dislike everything. We were both wrong. Although one of the products (Expert's Do-It-Yourself Lawyer) matched Gary's low expectations, the other two were admirably thorough. And as for finishing the documents in a day, well, technically this can be done, but the subject matter doesn't lend itself to quick answers.

Just fill in the blanks

All the programs handle document creation in much the same way: You're asked a series of questions, then your answers are plugged into standard templates. But in many respects, that's where the similarity ends.

Nolo's WillMaker does just one thing but does it very well. It helps individuals complete the basic legal documents governing illness and death: a will, living will, health-care and financial power of attorney, and final arrangements. Family Lawyer and Do-It-Yourself Lawyer also handle a wide assortment of legal documents and communications, from complaint letters to bills of sale. But in the end, neither could match the depth or the quality of information in WillMaker. Even my skeptical Gary was impressed.

Deciphering the jargon

The legal profession certainly has its share of lingo. One of the benefits of a good attorney is his or her ability to translate arcane terminology into language you can understand. WillMaker did the best job in that respect. Its on-screen legal guide explained the relevancy of every question asked, from the request for a Social Security number to the ramifications of giving someone power of attorney.

Quicken Family Lawyer was also rich with information, but the data wasn't always easy to locate or to understand. More than once, I encountered esoteric terms (like heirs-at-law) that I had to ask my in-house lawyer to explain. Worse still was Do-It-Yourself Lawyer, which often left me confused. And at least one of the documents it produced reflected my confusion: My entire will took up only a page and included information only about specific gifts, with no mention of my general estate. Baffled (the other two programs generated wills several pages long), I went back to see if I'd missed something. It turns out I should have included a phrase about "all my worldly goods" in the section where I detailed specific gifts, but that wasn't made clear.

Weighty matters

As eager as I was to start this process, I have to admit that creating a will and ruminating over life support is not a cheerful activity. Deciding to leave most of my assets to my husband was easy. But I labored over what to do with sentimental items. And then came an even bigger hurdle, guardianship of my children. Talk about facing your mortality.

WillMaker did a nice job of acknowledging the difficulty of tackling such deeply personal issues as who will care for our kids or whether we want to be kept alive through artificial means. When it came time to designate guardians, for example, it was the only product that prompted me to include a statement explaining my choice. As WillMaker noted, this could be useful in clarifying my wishes to a judge and in easing the hurt of someone who wasn't selected.

WillMaker also takes the role of legal counsel a step further than its competitors by limiting your options where it thinks it's safer. You can't, for example, designate coguardians, create a joint will or attach conditions to a bequest. While these are all legal options, the experts at Nolo have deemed them unwise or unenforceable.

The verdict is in

In the end, what matters most is the final document. Is it legally sound, and does it accurately reflect your wishes? WillMaker and Family Lawyer passed both my scrutiny and Gary's. He was particularly impressed with the detailed directions that accompanied the WillMaker documents, since a failure to follow the proper signing procedures can render the document null and void.

There are limits, though, to the help available in even the best of products. They are not--and don't claim to be--estate-planning tools. Because of these limitations, my ever-cautious husband still thinks the software is best used in preparation for a meeting with an attorney.

So we compromised: We'll keep the will and other documents I created, with the understanding that Gary will prepare a more comprehensive estate plan in the next year. I'm not holding my breath.