Wills, Trusts and Drama: What to Expect When Settling an Estate
Published on - June 11th, 2012 (by J.D. Roth) This is a guest post by Jennifer Rose Hale, one of the candidates for a new staff writer position here at Get Rich Slowly.
We all face times when we suddenly, necessarily have to become experts on a topic we’d previously given little consideration. Some, like pregnancy, accompany positive changes in our lives. Others, like dealing with funeral planning and estate issues, are entirely the opposite. Yet, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll have to deal with these issues eventually, one way or another.
I want to share what I’m learning as my family deals with estate issues — wills and trusts — to give you a preview of what to expect. I’ll add the usual disclaimer on a piece like this: I am not an estate attorney. That’s kind of the point — I’m just a person, one who knows a bit about personal finance, who has gotten thrown into the estate-settling process and has found myself frequently surprised and confounded.
My dad’s passing
My father died in March in Florida. He lived to be 79, an impressive accomplishment after surviving lung cancer 30 years earlier. In some ways, his passing was slow — although he survived cancer and avoided recurrences, he had lingering health issues that made him more reliant on oxygen tanks in the last years of his life. Still, he was surprised by the news in early March that he was terminal.
After that, his passing was, I guess you could say, fast.
My dad left behind four adult children and his wife, our stepmother.
He also — bless him — left behind what at the outset appears to be competently produced estate-planning documents: a will and a revocable trust. A bank is serving as the trustee, with a law firm representing the bank. So far, everything seems to be in order.
That doesn’t make it simple.
Stats on inheritances
Last year, I wrote a piece for SavingsAccounts.com covering what to do with an inheritance. MetLife had released a survey that found that two-thirds of Baby Boomers may expect some type of inheritance over their lifetimes, with the average amount being $64,000 (a boon for headline writers who remember old game shows, as you can tell).
Of course, those numbers are buoyed by large windfalls from sizable estates. You may have heard in May about Prince William’s inheritance. He’ll get $16 million from his mother’s estate when he turns 30 on June 21st. An enviable amount, certainly, though — as with everything estate-related — tied up with all the negative emotions over loss.
Get ready for horror stories
Earlier, I compared learning about the estate settlement process to discovering everything there is to know about pregnancy. Here’s an unpleasant reason why: You’ll hear other people’s horror stories constantly. Instead of birth horrors, it’s frustrated stories about delays. A coworker pointed to her older child, noting that the estate process had started when he was born — and, while everything recently was closed out, her son is now in grade school.
Even more worrying are the tales of family conflict. One friend told me about family members slipping into the deceased parent’s unmonitored house to remove the prized gun collection. (Yes, it’s Texas!)
It’s fair to say that when money and family meet, the strain will start to show. Immediately. And especially when combined with a significant loss. Estate probate really won’t be put on hold, which means you’ll be interacting with lawyers and signing heaven-knows-what while you’re still receiving condolence cards in the mail.
Keeping your own counsel
One of the first choices you’ll be faced is whether to retain an attorney. In some cases, you really may have no choice, based on how complicated your situation is and the role you have to play. In others, you’ll walk the line that I do — knowing that it may be in my best interest to have my own representation, but struggling with affordability. It’s hard to prioritize paying (possibly optional) legal fees when my house needs repairs now.
Additionally, the estate laws vary from state to state, so an attorney in Texas probably won’t have expertise in Florida law. One lawyer I spoke with offered to help in the short term but indicated she’d refer me to a Florida attorney pretty quickly.
“You want me to sign what, now?”
The first communication my siblings and I received from the attorneys representing the trustee was an email letting us know to expect a waiver in the mail. If we signed the waiver, the message indicated, the process would go much faster. Mind you: The process wouldn’t start until we either signed or returned the unsigned waiver. So “ignore it and it’ll go away” wasn’t a valid choice.
The waiver was mercifully short for a legal document, and all the experienced folks I talked to indicated “it’s pretty standard.” But it had some worrisome language in it, binding us to agree, for example, not to contest the validity of the will in probate and to give up rights to formal service of documents.
In the end, I took the cheapskate’s way out: I talked to a friend of a friend, a local estate attorney who was willing to eyeball the document as a favor and give me a cursory recommendation. She had her own disclaimer about Florida estate laws being different from those in Texas (her area of expertise), but, after listening to my concerns, she agreed the language was unexpectedly broad and I had no compelling reason to sign it.
I opted not to sign.
Find some answers online
In the meantime, I went online for basic information and definitions. You’ll find some good resources on the Web for basic information. Since my dad’s estate is in Florida, I read the Florida Bar Association’s consumer information on probate in Florida. It assuaged my concerns about how long the process was going to take — and, by “assuaged,” I mean it pretty much confirmed my coworker’s multiyear estimate.
What’s next? Reading the will — which turns out to be nothing like every movie scene you can imagine.
…to be continued…
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Honestly, I thought the whole thing went like it does in the movies. Everyone meets in a lawyers office and while s/he reads the will, everyone gasps in horror or cheers or whatever. And that’s it. Open and shut case. This post had an ominous ending! It’s not like the movies? Looking forward to the rest of the story!
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One thing I’d add is that this process is going to be different for everyone. A lot of how the estate is settled depends on whether or not a will was written, and the existence of a surviving spouse can change a lot of things.
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I got over my initial kneejerk “feh, pregnancy!” reaction and enjoyed this article. I look forward to reading the rest of your articles on this topic. Though I expect my father to live another 20+ years (well, don’t we all), he wants to sit down and talk about logistics soon. I don’t think either of us is looking forward to it, but I know it’ll make things easier if I’m a bit more prepared for the practical/legal aspects.
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You Dad is doing a great thing for you. As I mentioned in my post below, my mother and father (mostly my mother as my father had health issues) took care of everything. My mother saw how her own sister struggled to gather up all the ‘important docs’ when her husband died and after helping her sister through it, she was determined to do it all for herself and my father. My Dad has always taken care of their savings/investing, so it was really quite a task to pull it all together.
It’s a huge undertaking, but so worth it. Your Dad is really giving you quite a gift. Good luck!
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Thanks for posting. I’ll be curious to read the rest. My mother (widow) and father (deceased) did SUCH a good job with preparing themselves financially and legally (as well as downsizing when appropriate) that we children are extremely thankful.
My husband’s family did not. His mother was ill with a terminal disease, but died suddenly about 6 months to a year before expected. His father is of diminished capacity and one sibling is nearby and has taken control of all things. Four years later and things are literally a mess. One sibling has taken legal action to protect his father’s well being and finances. What they are learning is troubling. The ‘nearby sibling’ took a large personal “business loan” that is slowly being paid back, and they also paid themselves a self-appointed 30k/year salary to take care of him (he lived in his own condo) until recently where he is getting outside help (due to issues when he was alone). It’s a mess.
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I think this is one area of personal finance that is totally misunderstood by many people, and one where emotions can truly be heightened for many reasons. Particularly with multiple siblings, second marriages, etc.
Looking forward to reading the rest of your story.
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Emotions play a HUGE role in estate matters. It would benefit you to learn how to identify the personal conflict styles of your family members, so you know how to interact with them in a stressful situation like this. It will make things much smoother for you (and for them).
In Mediations, I’ve observed families argue over the smallest details in wills and other estate documents.
These arguments can quickly escalate into unresolved conflicts and, eventually, into grudges if left to fester.
I hope things work out well for your family.
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This makes no sense. If there was a trust in place why are you having to go into probate? Please explain. It would also help if you gave some idea of the size of the estate and the relationship of the family members. Also, any idea why your father chose a bank to act as trustee?
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A trust does not replace a will; you need both. (A trust mostly shelters some assets from taxes or reserves their use to specific people or activities.) A will has to be probated.
I am beginning the estate-planning process myself and would have appreciated specifics on exactly one aspect: how is probate initiated?
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You almost always need a will to dispose of any property that was not placed in the trust prior to death. Often, trusts are written to be unfunded during life and are not funded until the will leaves everything to the trust upon the person’s death.
As for your second question about the bank, remember that your trust is only as good as the trustee carrying out its directions. A bank trustee will cost money, but will also ensure that your trust is followed to the letter. If you designate one of your children to act as trustee, you run the risk that your kids get together and decide to just bag the trust and divvy up the money now.
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Ace, I would be interested in knowing why anyone would want to go through probate if they can avoid it with a trust. Another important point that I think is accurate (please correct me if I am wrong) is that anything probated is public information. I know that the laws in each state vary, but in North Carolina and California you can avoid probate if you put all of your assets into a trust. You would be surprised at how many people forget to transfer assets.
As regards the bank as a trustee, I have found that an expensive and frustrating experience. Bankers just don’t care as much as a family member. I would use this alternative only if there was no one in the family who could handle the responsibilities or if there was such friction amongst family members as to make this impossible.
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The simplest answer to each of the issues raised in your post is, “it depends on the circumstances.”
To really answer your question about probate, one must understand that a trust is not a replacement for a will. They are different instruments designed to do different things. While you can often use a trust to accomplish the purposes of a will, it is not necessarily the best vehicle for doing so. So depending on what you are trying to accomplish and what your concerns are, there may be many reasons to have a will and go through probate, rather than have a trust.
And, as you pointed out, many times people simply forget to transfer their assets into a trust. If that happens, a will and probate are probably your only choice. If a home, for example, is titled in the name of the deceased alone, it will have to be disposed of through the courts in some fashion (whether by probating a will or by intestate succession). The deceased cannot sign a deed transferring the home to anyone or anything after the deceased has died.
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I find it hard to start the conversation about wills with my parents and in-laws as death is a subject you never want to talk about with your nearest and dearest.
Yet I know if I don’t, I will have to sort out everything later on. My father-in-law is a hoarder, not quite as bad as the TLC series but 50% there.
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One thing to discuss with parents/in-laws, if they have children with disabilities, is if they’ve put something in place specifically for those family members. I know where I live, if someone with a disability is left an inheritance, the state will claw back all of their disability benefits until the inheritance is spent. There are specific things that can be put in place, however, that allow someone with a disability to inherit money without this happening (it’s a specific type of trust… and setting it up requires having a lawyer who is familiar with these kinds of things).
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That’s an excellent point. In a lot of cases, family resources have to be exhausted before government long-term-care or disability benefits will kick in.
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Very good point. And it’s one of the things that my husband’s family is working thru, due to decisions made unilaterally and without input from the rest of the family and/or a qualified financial planner that specializes in this type of thing.
I think the biggest take away for me as a 1-step-removed from the family (as a daughter-in-law) is that no matter how awkward it may be to start having the difficult discussions, if your gut is telling you that you need to, or that something is amiss, you should absolutely act on it. Waiting only complicates things.
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We had to specifically “disinherit” our granddaughter in our trust documents because of this. It felt awful, but it was necessary. Sadly, she died not that long after we finished our trust.
My annoyance is that some banks, like Smarty Pig, won’t let you put your account in the name of the trust. I should probably look into another targeted savings institution that will let me put the accounts into the name of the trust.
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Hmm. I never know what to do with information like this. My father’s finances are a mess and he has no money, so I’m kind of assuming that I don’t need to worry about any of that.
My mother has some money but needs to keep working. I think her will leaves the house to her partner (they own jointly) and split everything in thirds. Do I need to know more?
My in-laws – cannot imagine trying to figure this out with them. We just had credit card companies calling us for their info because they’re overdue. If no one leaves us anything, do we need to worry about all this?
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It sounds like you need to assume that your improvident relatives will be moving in with you at some point! Yikes.
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Well, my dad is already essentially a ward of the state, I think, complete with legal requirement that he has a conservator. He’s a bit … scary so not ever going to live with us.
My in-laws are very clearly defined as not living here ever.
And I’m not worried about my mom. I am 99% sure that her partner will care for her. If my sisters and I needed to help, we’d split it.
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If you are the executor of the estate and your parent(s)/in-laws die with debts, speaking strictly from practical experience here in MA (no legal background), you are expected to pay out any assets from the estate towards debts. You are not PERSONALLY responsible for debts. Creditors have to file a claim against the estate.
However…
In practice, what happened with us was when my dearly despised m-i-l finally died, she stiffed BoA for a princely sum (which IMHO they deserved as they had no business loaning that much money to an 83-year-old on SS – clearly they expected to get it from the sale of her house, but she had a reverse mortgage). Long and short of it is that they failed to file a claim in time and the probate judge threw it out. BoA promptly sold the debt to collectors and we have been harassed ever since. Thank God for caller ID, as we now never pick up the phone unless we recognize the phone number. We know how to deal with the legitimate collectors; the problem is that when they can’t collect, they pass the debt on to other collectors, and most of them try to skirt the law. So even 4 years after her death, we’re still dealing with trouble related to her.
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The standard document that you are asked to sign is an Acknowledgement of Service. It states that you are receiving a copy of the Petition to Probate along with a copy of the Will. Yes, this is standard. By not signing, you are telling the court you prefer to be personally served by the sheriff’f office. Your choice- but if you are not contesting the validity of the Will then just sign. No hidden agenda. It’s the state’s form.
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I’ve commented about our situation here before, and I am so very thankful for all that my parents have done to make this process go as easily as possible for my brother and me.
1. They had their trust(s) drawn up over 20 years ago, and after my mother died, it passed to my father, with relatively little to be done. He became the sole trustee at that point.
2. Every year they would update us on the status of any changes, review investments,etc.
3. Father’s house sold 2 years ago, and he’s now in assisted living. His Long Term Care insurance covers about 95% of his expenses currently. We’ve done the major downsizing, though he still likes to buy nice clothes when he goes shopping
4. I’ve spent considerable time with his files, know what he has for insurance, investments, etc. It’s all mapped out, so we know what to expect from those, along with SS, VA and pensions.
5. My brother and I are equal, co-trustees, and we talk about this as much as needed to stay on the same page.
I will be very sad when my father passes away, but I feel his estate is set up really well. He and my mother were very open about what they had, what we could expect to receive, and so there really shouldn’t be any surprises when the time comes. Above all, he doesn’t want my brother and me fighting. I think that’s the best gift you can give your children.
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Sounds like the best one could hope for. And kudos for #5. The lack of openness between the ‘care taking’ sibling and the rest of my husband’s family has created a huge mess with my father in law and what is left of his life savings. No doubt the child that lives closest has carried more burden/responsibility, but there have been no check and balances. It was a recipe for disaster under most circumstances but with his failing health/dementia, it’s move into legal issues now.
Of course, both sides (my husband is currently Switzerland) claim the other person is out for the money.
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My family and I are dealing with the probate process for a dear friend who recently passed. It’s horrible (he left a will with the belief everything transferred seamlessly under that – in California, it doesn’t). Perhaps the most disillusioning part of the process have been the ambulance chasing real estate agents/etc. who have solicited us by phone and mail.
The NOLO books have been extremely helpful although we did retain a lawyer (against my recommendation – in California, the court mandates a percentage of the estate for the attorney and law firms have cleverly drafted a contract which essentially makes this a retainer – they bill hourly for everything).
Lesson learned: put everything in a trust and make sure all beneficiaries on all accounts are in the trust name as well.
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Here’s just one of the things I’ve learned since starting my estate-planning process. A 401(k) or 403(b) type retirement plan, in California, will default to spouse as beneficiary. If you are not married, do not have a will, and do not designate a beneficiary, the plan’s assets will be distributed by the state. So if you have a partner to whom you are not legally married in CA, for heaven’s sake, designate your beneficiary!
Here’s another. A non-401(k) type retirement plan e.g. an IRA does NOT default to spouse. That is, you don’t need your spouse’s consent to leave the asset to somebody else. That means a spouse can exclude such an asset from his/her estate, potentially without anyone in the family knowing about it.
Since the four most common assets involved in an estate are a) real estate, b) life insurance, c) employer retirement plan, and d) private retirement plan, it really is necessary for people to understand these assets and how they are handled in estates.
I hope this is the first of MANY articles on estate-planning here at GRS.
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Spare us the second hand stories about texans…..I moved from that state to another in the north and can assure you where I live now, often leaves me longing for the civility of the south. So again, come up with real experiences of your own, not second hand, unconfirmable gossip.
What I want to know is – how is this going to change YOUR estate planning? I hear so. very. little. about people who put get their estates in order (and then do the rest of us a favor and explain how they did it). I’d LOVE to hear more about that. I realize it probably varies from state to state, but surely some things are similar.
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What is so wrong with a reference to something that happened to someone in Texas?
It seems the author may be in Texas and dealing with an estate in Florida. References to the two states in question point out that the laws differ state to state.
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We have lived through three of our four parents’ passing.
First, if you are not the “close in distance” relative- do not moan over a salary for the one doing the care taking. The estate paid my bil $30,000 a year to do that for my mil. She was in an assisted care facility- but that did not mean that he said us oodles of $ by taking her to the doctor and doing her laundry. By visiting twice a week he found out things going wrong I the place. Unless you are willing to either move you loved one near you, or quit you job and move there, quite complaining! There is a heck of a lot more to do than you could ever imagine.
If you are the executor your legal bills and time can be paid for by the estate. The courts recognize that doing it on your own is not easy. Remind a seeing sib that they will get far less of it all taken to court- since the bills come out of the estate unless they win(which os more rare than you would think).
If you are left with nothing but bills-remember that you are not responsible for them even of you have to change your phone number!
Last, please make a will, assign an executor and a back up exectuor. Even if you go on line to Susie Orman and get something going ( and then take it to the bank to notorize your signature) it is better than the mess my bil (an attorney) left my sister….
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I don’t disagree with any of what you’ve said. But there are right and wrong ways to handle this. First, you have to consider the size of the savings before you can just decide to pay yourself 30k/year. 30k/year is one thing if the savings is a million dollars, and it’s a totally different thing if it’s $150k.
The most important thing is to be open about how an elderly parent and their finances are being managed. You’re absolutely correct, if siblings don’t like the arrangement, they should step up. But it should be an open discussion, not 1 person with all of the burden and all of the control.
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J.D.
I hope that before you refused to sign the waiver, you at least asked to review the will and trust. Do you have reason to believe that you or anyone else will want to contest the estate? Does the trust appear, as far as you know, to inaccurately dictate your father’s wishes? If not, then you may have just exponentially increased the duration and cost of the estate settlement for no good reason.
The attorney you spoke with did you no favor. Of course the waiver was broadly drafted–it is attempting to avoid any contest. The point it, what do you care if it was broad if you have nothing to contest? (And more importantly, is the estate worth enough that you would spend likely $100,000 in legal costs contesting the estate if you did disagree with something?)
Waivers are not bad things. There is no harm in waiving a right that you don’t intend to exercise.
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I have a revocable trust and a will. I am not married, don’t have kids and probably never will, being age 55. My nearest relatives live 1200 miles away in a different state, so I wanted to make disposition of my assets as easy as I could for them. Also the smaller the amount of assest that has to be probated, the smaller court fees there will be as they are usually based on some percentage of the probated assets.
My will is called a pour-over will and says that any asset not already in my trust should go to my trust and be distributed according to the terms of the trust.
Not everything can be put into a trust. Like my personal possessions. I had an online checking account once that would not let me have the trust be the owner. I have a paper I-bond in my own name that is not in the trust. My electronic I-bonds are in the trust name. I have my condo and other bank accounts in trust name. I need to put a few taxable Vanguard accounts into my trust but have not gotten around to it. My Vanguard Roth IRA cannot be in a trust name for tax reasons, but I have the trust as beneficiary.
I used to have the trust as the beneficiary for my TSP (govt 401K) retirement money until my sister-in-law warned me that more money could be lost to taxes if I did it that way. My estate would have a whopping amount of tax-deferred money in it and the tax rate would be higher. So I changed the TSP beneficiaries to be various family members.
So with estate planning, you need to think about tax issues involving tax-deferred retirement accounts. Also need to keep track of all the various beneficiary forms you have filled out over the years and make sure they don’t conflict with your plans in the trust and/or will.
I also created within my revocable trust, two trusts for my minor niece and nephew, to whom I would leave some money.
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Keep in mind here that assets with their own internal beneficiary designation (like a bank account, IRA, mutual fund account, etc.) do not pass through a will or a trust so long as you have a beneficiary designated. They pass automatically on their own. (Of course, you can leave them to your trust if you wish, and then they will be administered according to the terms of the trust. But if all you want to do is leave them to a relative, simply designate the relative as the beneficiary or co-owner of the account, and forget about it.)
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Hopefully I won’t have to deal with settling an estate anytime soon. But I am intrigued by your ending (or lack of one…)
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Jenna, “hoping” you won’t need to do this soon is exactly why you should begin the planning process now. Unfortunately, accidents happen. The more prepared you are, the less stressful and unexpected death will be. Good luck, and get started
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“Hoping” more for my family. My parents are still pretty young and have a plan. I’m still in my 20s and have my beneficiary all set up.
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Estate planning is all about control. If you want to control how your stuff is distributed, without question, create an estate plan with a qualified attorney. Otherwise, you will be a victim of circumstance and will lose control of how your money is handed down. Same goes for your parents, so just ask them if they want to control what happens to their money. Both of you should seek the advice you need and set up a plan… this will give your family the peace of mind they deserve.
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My family is almost two years into a very similar process. Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House” springs to mind. I can’t wait to read more about your family’s experiences.
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This is such a tough subject for families and it always seems to take most folks by surprise once it happens. Even though, as they say, the only inevitable things are death and taxes. (And both are clearly implicated here!)
Nice to see an article that tackles this tough subject from a lay perspective. Every situation will be VERY different (not just a little different) so it’s impossible to go into much detail, but it gives us a good jumping off point for our own personal research. Thanks!
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The most loving thing my mother ever did for me was make sure I had all documents necessary before I actually needed them. Occasionally, she would hand me something and say, ‘Here, put this with the rest.’ When the time came, I had everything I could have ever needed: the name and phone number of her chosen attorney, will, passwords, account numbers, original insurance policies, powers of attorney, etc. She logically realized there was no reason to keep the originals herself because an emergency could come at any time and I’d need those documents ASAP. That ‘survival packet’ helped me when I needed it most and I’m grateful she loved me enough to help me through the hardest days I’ve ever known.
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This sounds absolutely helllish. I am sorry. My parents like my little sisters more than me and I married an only child…maybe I can avoid this altogether…
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I want to thank the writer for sharing her story and experience. I want to do right by my parents and in laws when the time comes, but the reality is I have very little control over they have chosen to set up their estates.
I think the writer’s experience is fairly common. Wills, trusts, probate can be rambly drawn out affairs that we are terrified of screwing up because we don’t know what’s coming next, mistakes are expensive and they’re always some insensitive lout in the bunch who’s deeply critical of how it all goes down.
As a reader I was suprised at how the writer chose to present this without any indication from the outset this piece would be in two parts. A longer piece would have been more satisfactory than a cliffhanger in this case as there was no indication of what is coming and why two parts are necessary. Wasn’t that the point? To give you a preview of what to expect?
I thought the piece would continue the next day and thought it was weird that there wasn’t an indication of when to expect the second part.
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First to the author, my condolances, my remaining parent also passed this March. I have also heard, and seen, horror stories. Fortunately to date nothing approaching the horrors has occurred, but what has become obvious is that this is a slow process even for a fairly straight forward situation. I expected this based on my friend’s parents passing. It was weeks for the court to confirm my sibling as executor, before which we technically were not supposed to divide up any property (decisions were made though). It will be months to over a year before the primary asset (parent’s home) is likely sold and then another month or two before all the final paperwork is settled with the court. My sibling is getting more advice than they know what to do with, much of it exaggeration and a good chunk flat out BS. So be careful of what you hear and check it out before acting on it.
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Sorry about the Poster’s Loss.
I am the executor when the time comes and am 1st on the POA’s.
As things have happened, I ended up moving in with my Parents, I was in between jobs, can do my work over the ‘net and was in the process of moving. So my Dad approached me as to moving in and that he needed help. Dad is 92 and Mom is 89 and she is rated moderately to severe Alzheimer’s Dad had a Stroke in December that fortunately was classified as mild. Though he has cognitive problems that manifest themselves in short term memory problems.
I have one sibling, a younger sister.
They prepared their Wills, POA, Medical Instructions and such years ago and made periodic changes. While Mom was lucid we redid the POA’s to make sure they complied with current laws. We also took her out of the equation if Dad were to pass first. That is I would have POA and not have to go to court to establish Guardianship, which I understand can take up to 30 days and cost in our area up to $3,000.
Because of all this the POA was written to become active as soon as it was signed and while my Dad was in the Hospital I “activated” it. Since he is having some problems understanding his financial affairs he is gladly turning over the grunt work to me. What that means is that I am becoming more aware of all of the documents and instruments. We are also making some minor tweaks, like adding/changing beneficiaries now. On Stocks, Car, Insurance, Annuities and such. I have gotten to know all of their various advisers and have read all of their financial documents.
He still signs the checks but the boring stuff I am doing. I do all the shopping and driving.
They are going to live many more years and they have lived a good life. They are actually in fairly good health, other than the Alzheimer’s and we are having them age in place. They have a nice one level Condo that is inexpensive to live in. They do have Long Term Care Insurance when they need it. And it could be 6 months or 3 years or more before we look at the next move into Assisted Living.
We are currently working with an Elder Law Attorney to setup some Safe Harbor Trusts for the if and when.
I will say this, it is not for everyone. It is a lot of work and things are changing every week and even every day. I do have Caregivers coming in up to 4 days per week for 4 hours at a time, if needed.
Fortunately I had done Volunteer work over the last 15 years involving the elderly that provided training in those areas. And I have, since moving in, taken some Care giving Classes, that have been a great help.
So hopefully when the times some, it will not be a cakewalk, but I will have had some experience to lessen any horror stories of my own.
They have some decent assets, but are just middle class. My sister and I will probably get a few bucks. But I am counting on nothing. I have enough passive income to cover me in the future. Plus with Medicare not covering Assisted Living costs, it will be up to Long Term Care Insurance and their savings/assets to be paid down before being eligible for Medicaid.
So my point is that I feel that I am lucky that I am able to see the financial picture at a time that is a little more leisurely and less hectic.
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I too do not support intellectual property’ being stolen & others profitting from it.. BUT I do not want to see the internet being constantly policed’ & arbitrarily controlled by CYBER-COPS’
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Where can I get the documents to draw a Safe Harbor Trust for the State of Washington. I am a Para-Legal in Estate Planning for Wills and Trusts. Is there a Law Office in Washington State I can contact about these documents.
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Agree. There were too many extraneous details and anecdotal horror stories and very little of informational value. I don’t need to know about some random person stealing guns in Texas; did this happen with her family? Did she talk to the estate lawyer at all or research Florida estate laws? Such a missed opportunity to give readers good information from a practical standpoint.
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I was thinking the same thing. All I walked away with is that sometimes things are complicated after someone dies.
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Interesting, because I love the anecdotal portions of this and every post the most amidst all the drier facts, and found the “To Be Continued” irresistible.
Pleased and Intrigued.
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More disappointed than “unimpressed and annoyed” here. This site typically tries to give comprehensive stories, regardless of subject, and this article doesn’t meet that standard.
To give a bad comparison: this felt more like a book with the back ripped off than part one of a trilogy. There’s an introduction that references what to expect, but it doesn’t tell you that this will be a two (or more!) part article, and without that to me it implies that it’s going to cover the entire subject mentioned in the intro, not just the first few bits.
I’m interested in this story, but I have no idea when this writer will come back up in the audition process, so it falls flat. I’d prefer the story all at once, but if that’s not the case, I’d at least like to know when the next part is due to come out.
That said, I liked the tone of the story. It has good flow. I think once we see the other bits it will tie together very nicely.
Hopefully this doesn’t come off as extremely negative… it’s not meant that way.
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I thought this was too choppy, actually. It felt like the author was told she had to include certain info, like the stats on inheritance.
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