This morning, when I was so eager to get outside and play in the dirt, I had to stop to pull together information for a meeting. Dear Husband and I wrote our wills in 1992. Since then, there have been changes in the estate laws, and we have been advised to consider revocable trusts. The lawyer sent a letter with a list of the information she needs to move forward.
\nI was plugging away, typing out names and addresses of executors, trustees and beneficiaries, when it came to the question of specific bequests. We have three generations living here. We’ve combined three households, and created a “Yours, Mine, and Ours” situation. I walked to the living room to take a brief visual inventory, and realized that this was the most difficult, most personal, part of the information request. While you’re talking about “assets” and “executors” it’s just business, but when you have to think about where you want treasures to go, it becomes very personal.
\nYou can’t know if the person you leave the item to will love it as much as you did. It’s possible that they want something of yours as a memento, but not THAT. Or, maybe they don’t want anything at all. For instance, my quilting stash is becoming an amazing collection of fabric. I’m not sure that any one person in my family has room for it, or even wants it. Should my family decide they don’t have room for it, I hope my bee members will offer to take it.
\nIt made me crazy for a bit, trying to think about just what should go into that list of bequests, and I think that I need more time to make decisions. I know that the trust can be amended easily, so I’m going to go for the broadest strokes, and provide more detail later.
\nIf you’ve been a visitor here, then you know that we lost Dear Husband’s oldest son at the start of 2006. His passing, at 41, has made me more conscious of how fleeting life is, and the need to be prepared, so that our loved ones don’t have to suffer through the legalities of probate. It’s difficult, but I’ll rest easier knowing that there is less for my family to do. And, hopefully, I’ll get the bequests right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning, when I was so eager to get outside and play in the dirt, I had to stop to pull together information for a meeting. Dear Husband and I wrote our wills in 1992. Since then, there have been … Continue reading