My dad used to give a speech all over Augusta called The Importance of Having a Will. Most people have no idea that if they die without a will, your property is distributed to your heirs according to state law, which may or may not be how you want it to happen.
Did you know you already have an estate? Doesn't matter is you are rich or poor, if you own anything tangible it IS an estate. You need to talk to an attorney about how to make sure after you die, your children or whoever inherits will not be socked with a huge burden.(I understand the inheritance tax laws are changing, which is good, I think.)
My great grandmother, Beulah Phillips Butler, did something rather unique. The last twenty years or so of her life, she and grandaddy didn't have much money. After he died, Granny lived with her children [12 of them] rotating between their homes. Most often she lived with her daughter Hazel. One day she called Hazel and told her to come home from work and bring the doctor. Granny was never sick so Hazel was alarmed. By the time she got there, Granny was dead.
Granny had labeled ALL her possessions with the name of the child or grandchild she wanted it to go to. She had also bathed and dressed nicely, and all her clothes were clean. (She was lying peacefully on her bed. She was ready to die, and she died!) Everything was neat and orderly. She was trying to avoid her 7 daughters squabbling.
Ironically, about 30 years later her son died, and the remaining sisters squabbled over his estate. There was a court case. It was a huge rift within the family.
People never think that sort of infighting will happen within THEIR family, but then it does. There are hurt feelings and it's a mess - legally, emotionally, every way.
One way to describe that sort of thing is "fiduciary litigation." Kristy has done a lot of that. An attorney who is skilled and savvy at strightening out those sorts of things is very valuable. Kristy has a master's in psychology and an innate ability to sort through things and see them clearly. She also has a lot of compassion - hugely important in that sort of litigation.
Kristy's website has a good explanation of Fiduciary Law.
Anyway, it's food for thought...
My grandmother's family, the Butlers, about 1921. My grandmother is seated on the steps second row, in a dark dress.
