Just a note to all of you who are close enough with your parents to at least bring up the topic of death: MAKE SURE THEY HAVE A WILL AND THAT YOU KNOW WHERE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS ARE.
My father never wrote a will. He also never listed my mother or either of his daughters as beneficiaries on his life insurance through work, nor his 401k. Because of that, we have had to pay a lawyer a ridiculous amount of money to sort out all of the paperwork involved in his estate, and it took 3.5 months for my mother to receive the life insurance money, while the rest is caught up in court. This is even though Ohio law states that a living spouse receives everything.. you still have to go through the legal bullshit to get there.
Also, survivorship deeds on real estate property are Very Good Things.
I suggest talking these situations through with your parents/loved ones ahead of time. It might be an uncomfortable topic, but it will make the actual experience SO much simpler for you in the end, when you actually ARE dealing with the whirlwind of emotions associated with loss. The stress relief would be worth the uncomfortable conversation, I think.
__________________
"Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark."
— Henri-Frédéric Amiel
|