Do you have an up to date will?

[oldfrat]

Next door neighbors came over yesterday evening to be the witnesses for our new wills. It has been 7 years since we did our last ones and, wow, have there been a lot of changes since then that made the updating worthwhile.

Our wills are fairly simple. So I have yet to use a lawyer or an accountant for this. Instead, I use some fairly inexpensive software. You can find it here: http://www.nolo.com/products/quicken...-plus-WQP.html

If you don't have an up to date will, I encourage you to create one. Having not died yet, I haven't truly tested the efficacy of the software linked above. But I do feel good enough about it to call it to your attention. If it proves insufficient, I shall be beyond caring. It feels good now, though, while I am alive.

The software also helps you make decisions about medical care, leave instructions for your funeral, etc. I had to make a lot of those decisions when my father died, so I know how much you will be helping those you leave behind if you give them this kind of information.

[Uncle Jesse]

I do but spent a good bid for a good lawyer to write it. I do believe it is very complete (not that there will be a lot of money to fight over) and includes a living will for my wife and myself. It covers a lot of stuff I would not have thought of personally.

I do need to write down who get which fishing rod, etc., my son will have no interest and I don't want to see them sold at a garage sale for $3 each.

[ronhenry123]

Uncle Jesse, it's me, your long-lost nephew! I'd be happy to stand in for your boy and promise to take good care of your flyrod!

[Uncle Jesse]

It was nephews and great nephews I was think of, nephews in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, great nephews in Louisiana and Texas. I may get a son-in-law one of these days and even get a grandson is a possibility. Besides I'm a mere 64 years old, my granddad still had fishing rods in the truck of his car when they put him in the home at about 85 yrs. They discovered he had become a teenager again was neglecting his diet, slipping around smoking and drinking and showing an attraction to strange women. He never intentionally did anything considered to healthy, I on the other hand am trying to stay healthy so I may exceed his 91 years before taking the eternal dirt nap. You will be fishing with a titanium filment rod with a nanotech matrix binder your 8 wt. will weight 0.66 ozs.

[john]

On the will topic, some state statutes actually have simple wills, in full, in them. WI for instance has approved will forms, healthcare POAs(living wills), and financial POAs.
On a kinda tangential issue, have you guys with no one in the family with a clue or interest in FF, thought about your gear? I suspect we all overvalue our "favorites" but regardless, it seems a shame for it all go on the garage sale.

[Betty Hiner]

Years ago I told the kids (all grown, and far better taught), that if they wanted anything, they'd better mark it then. The girls (1 daughter, one dil) grabbed sticky notes in different colors, and ran around marking everything they could lay their hands on. The other daughter in law was bemoaning the fact that she found it "morbid" and "most disturbing" ... till our daughter told her, "have it your way ... but you're going to miss out on all the good stuff!!" ... at which point she too grabbed the stickies in her own color, and had at it. I'm still finding stickies.

[oldfrat]

Interesting, Betty. My siblings and I did that with the contents of my parents' house --but after the last one died, not before. It turned out to be a pretty good system. Our rules allowed us to add a sticky to an item even if one or more siblings had already marked it. We negotiated these at the end of the process and all remained good friends.

[Betty Hiner]

Brad,
What I found so fun in this method ... I can freely give some of these "things", these "treasures", to them while I'm still living, and get to see the joy in their faces at taking then with them now.

[oldfrat]

I can understand that, Betty. As I recall, I was a bit surprised about where many of the colored sticky dots went. The three of us siblings had very different ideas of what we wanted. Some things that I had zero interest in had high interest from my brother and sister. And I placed the only colored dot on some items that I hold dear. Some things that I believe my parent valued greatly got no sticky dots at all. Go figure!

My father, who was normally very responsible, died leaving no instructions --even though he had lots of time to know he was terminal. I ended up having to make a lot of decisions without his guidance, and that bothered me a lot at the time. I resented it at the time.

The wills my wife and I put together 7 years ago were incredibly out of date when we revisited them with this update. I am really happy we had a chance to update them before they were needed

So I started this thread in hopes it would help others. Have a will! Pass on your instructions!

I'm also working behind the scenes to smooth things out. I anticipated that my 3 sons would all want to have my Yamaha acoustic guitar. So now I have 3 Yamaha acoustics. They can debate who gets which one, but each will end up with a "Dad's guitar" and the thought of them playing them after I am gone makes me happy. Only one son is really into fly fishing, so that part is easy.

Funny how your thoughts turn this way once you get past 60. We had some late 30-ish neighbors witness our wills and the act of doing that made them realize that, as the parents of 2, they really should create wills too. I'm grateful for their time as witnesses and happy that it also led them to a valuable act.

[Betty Hiner]

I agree, Brad. Have an up to date will ... and tell EVERYONE who matters () where it is and what you want, while you're still there and can drive home the "fine" points ... like DNR*.


* which I may have tattooed on my forehead!!!!