h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi there,

Great piece, ty

Biting your tongue can save more than money too as it makes the 'agreeing on how to split things up' bit much less stressful.

And trading is a winner, esp if you polish off the wine cellar in the process, makes dealing with the stuff on the 'to be discussed' list much friendlier.

Within a year of a split from 10 years of 'collective shopping', we were totally relaxed about re-negotiating (ie swapping) items that somehow ended up in the wrong list - just like old friends!

Hi, sixsevens, thanks for reading the entry, and saying so!

I wish I had thought of drinking our way through the alchohol... it sounds a great way to do it.

Congratulations on swopping things over. We had a couple of disputes and trade-offs, I still mind the picture of foxgloves whenever I see it in his house, but by and large we managed really well. So well, in fact that he came to my 40th birthday party, and everyone had a great time. Joint-custody of friends you see!

Do you know anything about writing wills? That is my next entry, though I don't advise doing that yourself.

All the best

Ben

Wills in this part of the world are easy-peasy and dirt cheap... about 6 or 7 of your sterling euros or whatever they're called now.

But as you're in the UK (which, as I remember it, is a bureaucrats paradise...) that's not much help if you're writing for a UK audience hmmm

Happy belated birthday by the way

A how exciting! Thank you. My actual birthday is tomorrow - so I shall open it then!

The will entry is here, by the way A723728. I need to get it vetted by a lawyer - I wonder if BBC legal will do that - and do some background reading for links.

But the bones are here - if you will forgive the expression!

Ben

If you can say "the bones are there" , can I say "where there's a will, there's a way?"

No?

Fair enough... it is late here

Hi Ben,

Here's a link to the leading will agency in this part of the world...
http://www.publictrust.co.nz/wills/
The Public Trust is a state owned organisation which was transformed (along with almost every other such dept.) in the late 80's into a *business* and (perhaps surprisingly) the change paid off.
The services they were chartered to offer were initially aimed primarily at the budget end of the market but success has bred success and now they have a fair share of the mid-price punters too.

I was surprised that google ranked this quite highly...
http://www.maf.govt.nz/mafnet/publications/ruralbulletin/rbjul00/rbjul00-18.htm#P350_42219
as it's from MAF. It's quite readable and aimed (I assume) at the rural sector.
My folks fit into that category and I recall considerable concern on their part a few years back...I wasn't in the country at the time, so don't remmeber the details... but they were advised by their lawyers to set up a trust in order to *protect* their estate...

If you want more info, let me know

seizure!
six7's

Hi Six Sevens, good to see you again

I am sorry to say I have already used where there's a will there's a way in the entry. The oldies are the goodies!

I have included the links. Thank you for finding them for me.

All the best!

Ben
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