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

Car wreck?



Heck, I could probably do myself in just slipping in the bathtub.

Well, since estate laws vary by country, and even by state (and probably even by *year*...) an entry would be of limited use... But maybe I'll inflict readers of with it, once the everyday new info settles down...

But I'm going to discuss the results of today's phonecall with Tom *before* sticking the details in here.

Yeah, just about anyone could fall just wrong in the tub... I just picked 'car wreck' as an example of how 2 healthy young people could die at the same time. Of course, right now, if we're both in the car, Faith is likely to be also--about the only time she wouldn't be is on 'Date Night' (which we haven't been able to have for about a month because her usual babysitter was packing, moving, and is now unpacking), then again, with the placement of her carseat and all, she'd probably still survive us...

OK, yes, morbid, sorry... Dealing with this cr*p has got me thinking about stuff like this

You probably should think about it Amy
Prepare for the event in Faiths behalf, then put it out of your mind

There is a wide range between states and California is different on almost everything. Good luck with it all Amy including getting date night back!

I've actually found it all to be very interesting.

Here's an interesting little fact for you all.........

Mr & Mrs X have no wills. Mr & Mrs X die in a plane crash and there is no way to determine if Mr X died before Mrs X or vice versa. Who inherits the estate of Mr & Mrs X?

The Australian answer is that Mrs X's closest living relative(s) would inherit the entire estate. Mr X's relative(s) would get nothing.

Why?

When there is no way to determine who died first, it is assumed that, since women have a longer life expectancy than men, Mr X died before Mrs X. Mr X's estate passes (briefly) to Mrs X who then also dies. Because Mrs X has no will, all of her estate passes to her nearest living relative(s). No part of the estate would end up in the hands of Mr X's family.

I don't have any idea how such a situation is handled in the US... but that sounds just plain unreasonable to me (as do most things in the upside down country of Aussissippi ), because if it's a plane crash and they both died in the crash (not one in the crash itself and the other 2 weeks later from injuries sustained in the crash), then it seems reasonable to me to assume that they both died at virtually the same time, and therefore their estate really should be split evenly between their families.


But when human beings go about making up laws, they do all kinds of unreasonable stuff. Hopefully, the families will be on friendly enough terms to do the reasonable thing on their own after the law says has been carried out.



Luckily, I really don't have enough of an "estate" to cause anyone these problems in the event of my demise - it's all junk anyway, and more likely than not, they'd be fighting over who got stuck with the job of getting rid of it.

"You should have it. Really. I want you to have all these wonderful treasures to remember her by."


"No, I insist, you should take it. You were much closer to her than I was."

"Are you sure you really don't want any of this? How about some of that?"

"No, you really should take it. All of it. Please."

Maybe I should leave a notation in my will suggesting a big bonfire.

Well, now that I've told Tom all the stuff I learned yesterday, I'll stick it all here (including the stuff that I didn't bother with, just so that I can glean it out of here if I do do an entry later...)

*gets her notes*

*decides to transacribe notes and then elaborate*

'Call bank, tell talked w/att, ask--
Pay on death account?
Beneficiary designation on account?'

That was the first thing the probate lawyer told me to do, and if the answer to either is 'Yes' then everything's taken care of. (Rather doubt either is the case...) All I need is a yes/no answer, not any names, so I should be able to get what I need...

Called the bank after I got off the phone with the attorney, which resulted in this note--

'Still need to go in physically w/D.C.'

Then, in big letters--

'I'm NOT an heir'

Which is what I'd learned before, but the info the bank lady gave me drove that out of my head. Only if Daddy Bob had no children would I be an heir, and that only because he'd been predeceased by his parents, his sister, and my mom, and if mom had predeceased him by more than 5 years, I still wouldn't be an heir (learned that from a link on that lawyer's website to probate law... Or rather a bit of probate law in near-english (as opposed to lawyerese))

'Irrelevent that daughters estranged'

'If no one comes forward, need to file probate. Filer entitled up to 4%'

By 'comes forward,' I mean each of the 5(?) daughters and Toby would need to go to the bank and sign that paper that declares them to be heirs... Argh, the lawyer told me what it was called, but I forgot... And, yes, the filer of the probate, and also the attorney-of-record, gets a fee of 4% of the estate (up to $100,000--the estate, not the fee...) This line of notes is crossed out, because of the next--

'Must file formal probate, since Toby's incompetent. Either daughters or me if they want me to'

Since Toby's mentally incompetent, he can't sign anything--just as if he were a minor. The daughters would be the first choice to file probate, but they can delegate anyone they want to.

OK, now for the stuff that I didn't bother to take notes on--

According to the attorney, the law is worded so that the attorney-of-record for a probate case can collect *only* his/her 4% of the estate, no matter what. So you're not going to find a lawyer willing to be on record for a small estate, or even what us poor folks would consider a fair-sized one--after all, if the estate's $10,000 (which to me is a good chunk...) the attorney-of-record's share comes to $400. So what he said he does, in a case like this where the size of the estate is unknown, is assist for a fee of $1500. If the estate turns out to be large enough that the 4% comes to more than that, he refunds the fee and will be attorney-of-record. If not, the filer will be listed as attorney-of-record, and he (the lawyer) will assist and do the filing and so forth. I didn't ask about what happens if the estate is less than $1500... Likely the filer just takes the loss.

So, either we just drop all this right now, drop it after getting the death certificate and going to the bank again, or else contact the one daughter I know how to get ahold of after going to the bank and offer to file probate (for that whopping 4%) and maybe make a deal, since I've got the info (Social Security number, etc...) I want to drop it. I *wanted* to drop it when I started this journal... Tom's argument is that Daddy Bob told *everyone* that he wanted to leave the majority to us, and that we should at least try to carry out his wishes (and we could use the money--savings are slowly trickling away...) I just wish Daddy Bob had bothered to put those wishes in writing instead of just verbalizing them all the time, and then none of this would have to go on. I want to be able to go on with my life. I'm fine until I have to deal with this, and I hate that it's the money issues that are making me --I never thought I was that mercenary, but unless the money discussion comes in, I'm perfectly fine...

Okay, does Faith have any skills yet? Like tap dancing, or acting cute for the camera? I won't suggest coal-mining, as that might be bad for her lungs.

Much as you'd love to fulfill his wishes, you really can't because you're not an heir, and there's no will. Doesn't matter how many people he told what he wanted done with his money, he didn't bother to tell a lawyer and get it in formal legal writing. Unless there's one someplace that you don't happen to know about.

You're probably better off just getting in touch with his daughters and telling them what you found out about needing to file probate because Toby's incompetent, and that you're not legally an heir. However, I wouldn't just automatically offer to do the filing for the 4% filer's fee - it may not even give you enough to pay the transportation to deliver the death certificate to the bank (or any other travel you need to do associated with it), and cover long distance phone call costs involved in doing this. Besides, they may actually want to do it themselves.

But that's just my opinion on the matter.

::nods in total agreement with Lady Scotts last post::

Actually, there is one thing. I wouldn't tell Bobs daughter that you're not a legal heir. Tell her only that probate must be filed by a blood relative. That way if she never bothers to find out that you're not a legal heir, she might just include you as one for division of the estate. It's a long shot, but it's better than nothing.

Are his daughters estranged enough that they might say they don't want to have anything to do with his money? Sounds but sometimes it happens. I'm not up on the US laws so other than that I can't really help on this matter.

At the end of the day it is only cash, however much it might have helped if it's going to cause you a lot of stress then it might be worth not bothering.

in what ever decision you take

Mel

*thinks*

I got the impression on the phone that the money gets divided automatically... I *do* know that, since Toby's a ward of the state, the state would get his share. I just don't know if it's the filer's responsibility to divide it or not...

Well, the death certificate came in the mail this weekend, so I can either change into something a bit nicer and go to the bank today, or else dress nice tomorrow and go while the laundry's getting washed... Since it's on the way to the library, and the library's not even open today, I'll go tomorrow.

Your library isn't open on Tuesdays?

I wrote that it wasn't open *yesterday*...

It's raining, and while I have a rain cover for the stroller, I don't know if the books will stay dry... OK, yeah, so I'm making excuses...

Being able to make good excuses is a talent that will never fail you.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and holidays are all concepts that I have trouble with sometimes, Amy. I almost went to work yesterday because I couldn't remember whether Patriot's Day was covered by my union contract.