My Mom wrote her Will years ago when she was mad at my brother and I. Not that there was anything to leave, as she had bankrupted herself financially and morally to support my other brother, the now deceased drug addict/alcoholic/criminal. She left her heavily mortgaged house to my spendthrift/lottery ticket addicted unemployed sister in a life estate (so long as she can afford it, she can live in it). She ALSO left her a $100,000 life insurance policy, to be placed in trust to be used for the care and maintenance of that house during my sister’s occupancy.

Oh, yeah, you know what’s coming next.

In the last few years Mom lightened up and in her last months I was made responsible for a lot of her care. Mom died last summer. That $100,000 was gone before Christmas. And the Will was never even probated.

Now you’re going to say I should consult a lawyer. I’m a paralegal and work for an estate attorney.

I’m just sitting back and watching the show.

Still, an interesting piece overall. The bit about the crumpled second page is very true.

Its kind of like the “wallet audit” that J.D. recommended a while ago. We THINK everything is taken care of but there is always a few loose ends that people tend to forget. The effect of “forgetting” that item will cost us when shit hits the fan.

First, I don’t feel like I can give you a full overview right now because I haven’t seen the entire piece. If some of this is addressed later on, then feel free to ignore it.

The title states, “reading the will is not what you expect”. I think all of the examples and analogies given could be compressed into about a paragraph. I think the goal was to show that it’s all pretty mundane. So, to do that, I would think 3 examples or so would work–you could use the movie thing, how everyone aims for “Plan A”, and how “Plan B”, if not done well, makes a bad time harder. That can all be scrunched into a paragraph (main idea–wills are pretty mundane).

Then, you mention that you will join the chorus of people advising everyone to talk to their parents about estate plans. This would be a good paragraph on its own–you could mention a few specific (but not personally revealing) details that could have been avoided if you (or your siblings) had completed that discussion. I’m thinking of things like what you mentioned on the “crumpled second page”.

After that, I would mention the glass of wine and the will if you want to. I’m pretty neutral on its inclusion–it’s a personal story, and it’s a personal touch, but at the same time it doesn’t really advance the idea. It’s also a good opportunity to look at the writer and get a personal feel for how that person is and thinks.

Finally, I would probably tie the last portion of this article in after that.

I think this review is a little better than my first.

I did like the imagery of the “crumpled second page” and I could relate to that. I also liked how you mention how you felt everything should be more dramatic, but it’s not–it’s just normal. I thought that was a nice way to see a bit of your personality (some people, no matter how normal something is, will find drama).

They shape the perception of crime, for example, making people afraid of child-snatchers and terrorists, even though the actual numbers say something very differently.

I think she was right to point out that reading wills are pretty mundane after all, even if entertainment media does its best to convey that it’s associated with drama. Same with pregnancy and birth, by the way.

No, actually, they won’t. Television and movies are not reality, and anyone who gets them confused with reality probably should not be writing a blog that is supposed to be on a practical matter (i.e., personal finance).

I agree with everyone that says that this piece was just fluffy filler and that breaking it down into three separate entries was a mistake.

Anyway, maybe because the amounts are small but I never saw or heard the wills. Possibly (I can’t recall) we saw my mother in law’s while cleaning out her home but that will amounted to all her assets should be equally divided among her children and their spouses. And all she owned was a house in a less than safe neighborhood. After paying for the funeral and the house cleanout, $4800 was all that was left to distribute.

But it worked so well for George R.R. Martin.

So far, there’s been nothing. I’m sorry to be harsh, but what is the point of this series?

Furthermore, all of the (inapplicable) movie analogies add nothing.

I don’t need to know exactly what you received and how you did so, but this portion of the article does not move this story forward.

I was really interested in the next portion of this piece, and I have to say I’m pretty disappointed.

I’ll try to come back with more constructive criticisms later on, but I’m sort on time (and a bit annoyed).

Actually one for JD (or others who don’t plan on having kids), how do you plan for that quiet day?