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Edited on Sat Feb-17-07 04:40 PM by SoCalDem
The whole Anna Nicole business and before that, the Schiavo case should give us all the push we need.
GET A WILL..FILE IT YOURSELF AT THE COURTHOUSE..
It's also a good idea to sit down with "all concerned parties" and TELL THEM YOURSELF whom you plan to make executor, and WHY.
After a death, when feelings are raw, is usually the time when all the shit bubbles to the surface in famillies. (I speak as a two-time veteran of filial-wars)
Write it ALL down.. who gets Grandpa's wooden cigar box collection..who gets Grandma's old water pitcher.
People fight over the DUMBEST stuff, and it only escalates.
We are giving stuff away NOW, while we are alive, but there will always be stuff to distribute after we are gone, so we are writing it all down.
If you want something SOLD and the money, split, make sure you have an appraisal or a provision for an appraisal so that someone who wants to "buy" the other's shares, can do that.
TELL people, in writing, how you want your funeral or post mortem service to proceed. Write down WHERE you want to be buried.. Better yet, Pre-arrange it all, so there is NO question.
If you plan on leaving things to grandchildren, SAY so, (don't rely on people sharing willingly).
List debts owed to you by grown children. Within families, everyone knows that parents loan money to kids, and if those debts just suddenly go away, instead of being deducted from that person's share, there WILL be hard feelings forever.
If you cannot afford a lawyer, just write it all down, get it notarized, make copies for all mentioned in the will and put the original in a safety deposit box.
Make sure that someone you trust has power of attorney in case you become debilitated.
Once a year (your birthday, maybe) re-read the will and make updates if necessary.
You might want to periodically go through "old stuff" and remember that when you are gone, others will be looking through ALL your stuff, so it might be wise to start discarding stuff you don't want others to read/see..
:evilgrin:..the world's greatest porn collection might leave a strange remembrance if your grandkids are the ones to "find" it :evilgrin:
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