Get your affairs in order in case of death or disability so you aren't a pain in the ass to your family...

[Fijimn]

Personal rant here. My wife's uncle had a stroke. His a widower with no children. He owns property and has a good retirement all totaled, probably an estate of around $1.5 million... and my mother-in-law (his sister) nor his other sister know anything about his finances, insurance, funeral wishes, etc. They don't know if he has a will, advance directive...medical power of attorney. And we literally have no idea where he has any of this the documents, accounts etc. I set up an estate attorney consultation for my MIL and sister....guess who had to pay the retainer....now we have to set up a guardianship and if he didn't have a will or can't find the will....we'll have to figure out a way to protect his assets before he does and it goes into intestate succession....just having to clear title is going to be a giant expensive pain in the ass...

As an aside, where do you take old pistols to be disposed?

 

[Bank of Hawk]

Nice, subtle brag on the 7 figure score!

 

[tarheelbybirth]

Hell, I'm dead. F*** 'em.

 

[HawkCat]

I have given my sister a sealed envelope with two sheets containing a road map for all of our accounts, insurance policies, owned property, estate planning documents, etc. She keeps it tucked away in a secure place. That way, she will be well-equipped if the wife and I go down in a plane somewhere.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

I have given my sister a sealed envelope with two sheets containing a road map for all of our accounts, insurance policies, owned property, estate planning documents, etc. She keeps it tucked away in a secure place. That way, she will be well-equipped if the wife and I go down in a plane somewhere.

pic of sister?

 

[West Duval Nole]

As an aside, where do you take old pistols to be disposed?

That seems like a strange aside to this.

 

[Funky Bunch]

I have all of my accounts in Quicken with some information in the Comments field (usernames.passwords, instructions).

 

[Fijimn]

That seems like a strange aside to this.

We found three old pistols in his safe....

 

[ping72]

I have given the local newspaper a sealed envelope with two sheets containing a cryptic map and a clue to the location where I have buried all my wealth. They keep it tucked away in a secure place. That way, they will publish it if the wife and I go down in a plane somewhere. Whomever finds it first gets to keep it.

The house and possessions will be auctioned off. Any outstanding debts and burial costs will be taken out of this pool of money. The remaining couple million will be given to charity. Any charity that achieves at least a B- grade on charitywatch that wishes to participate can enter into a double elimination rock-paper-scissors competition. Winner take all.

 

[NoleFan2U]

Just set up a trust and will for my parents. The attorney had them put my name on all their accounts as an owner, or beneficiary on all their accounts. The house was put into a living trust for when they both die. My brother, the only other heir, is fine with my name on everything. The whole thing cost $800. Well worth it.

*side note: my mother put little dot stickers on the bottom of the "good stuff" so i don't give it away in the yard sale. LOL

 

[West Duval Nole]

I have given the local newspaper a sealed envelope with two sheets containing a cryptic map and a clue to the location where I have buried all my wealth. They keep it tucked away in a secure place. That way, they will publish it if the wife and I go down in a plane somewhere. Whomever finds it first gets to keep it.

The house and possessions will be auctioned off. Any outstanding debts and burial costs will be taken out of this pool of money. The remaining couple million will be given to charity. Any charity that achieves at least a B- grade on charitywatch that wishes to participate can enter into a double elimination rock-paper-scissors competition. Winner take all.

No worries. You will die before your wife, so provide a pic of your wife now.

 

[ping72]

No worries. You will die before your wife, so provide a pic of your wife now.

I did just this morning. Check out my “nice thread“. She’s the one on top.

 

[OrlandNole]

Personal rant here. My wife's uncle had a stroke. His a widower with no children. He owns property and has a good retirement all totaled, probably an estate of around $1.5 million... and my mother-in-law (his sister) nor his other sister know anything about his finances, insurance, funeral wishes, etc. They don't know if he has a will, advance directive...medical power of attorney. And we literally have no idea where he has any of this the documents, accounts etc. I set up an estate attorney consultation for my MIL and sister....guess who had to pay the retainer....now we have to set up a guardianship and if he didn't have a will or can't find the will....we'll have to figure out a way to protect his assets before he does and it goes into intestate succession....just having to clear title is going to be a giant expensive pain in the ass...

As an aside, where do you take old pistols to be disposed?

 

[franklinman]

Done ,10 years ago.

 

[SeaPA]

I have all of my accounts in Quicken with some information in the Comments field (usernames.passwords, instructions).

Does anyone else know this (I mean in the way of family or someone who needs to know, not everyone on hrot

 

[Funky Bunch]

Does anyone else know this (I mean in the way of family or someone who needs to know, not everyone on hrot

Just my wife and HROT

 

[Finance85]

Personal rant here. My wife's uncle had a stroke. His a widower with no children. He owns property and has a good retirement all totaled, probably an estate of around $1.5 million... and my mother-in-law (his sister) nor his other sister know anything about his finances, insurance, funeral wishes, etc. They don't know if he has a will, advance directive...medical power of attorney. And we literally have no idea where he has any of this the documents, accounts etc. I set up an estate attorney consultation for my MIL and sister....guess who had to pay the retainer....now we have to set up a guardianship and if he didn't have a will or can't find the will....we'll have to figure out a way to protect his assets before he does and it goes into intestate succession....just having to clear title is going to be a giant expensive pain in the ass...

As an aside, where do you take old pistols to be disposed?

Good story and advice.

 

[StormHawk42]

Personal rant here. My wife's uncle had a stroke. His a widower with no children. He owns property and has a good retirement all totaled, probably an estate of around $1.5 million... and my mother-in-law (his sister) nor his other sister know anything about his finances, insurance, funeral wishes, etc. They don't know if he has a will, advance directive...medical power of attorney. And we literally have no idea where he has any of this the documents, accounts etc. I set up an estate attorney consultation for my MIL and sister....guess who had to pay the retainer....now we have to set up a guardianship and if he didn't have a will or can't find the will....we'll have to figure out a way to protect his assets before he does and it goes into intestate succession....just having to clear title is going to be a giant expensive pain in the ass...

As an aside, where do you take old pistols to be disposed?

Regarding the guns, my serious answer is contact your local ATF office and explain the situation. They’ve helped direct me a couple times with gun disposal. They will be quite interested in helping guns be disposed of safely.

 

[hawkmart]

We did that awhile ago, sister in law has all the pertinent info should both the wife and I perish together. However our kids are no longer kids so should probably entrust them with it at some point. They are the beneficiaries. I'm kinda surprised I'm still above ground after I found out the amount of accidental death insurance my wife had on me through her work.

 

[Nole Lou]

My brother in law just went through this when his (and my wife's) cousin died. No kids, no siblings, no living parents. His entire estate, primarily consisting of his house, was probably under $200k. His nearest relatives were cousins, of which there were 8 or 9 cousins on each side. My BIL ended up as executor, and it probably took 3-4 years and innumerable hours on his part to finally dispose the estate. Every potential cousin had to submit all kinds of documentation just to prove they were legally related.

The cousins on the other side, who my BIL doesn't know, even floated the idea that there was a family rumor that he was actually the illegitimate father of the children of one of the couples on that side of the family, therefore there should be like three more shares to that side, and that had to be put to rest.

It was an incredible amount of work going on for years, and eventually my wife got a check for like $3K. Something like half the value of the estate went into fees and lawyers to liquidate the thing. What a mess.

 

[SeaPA]

Just my wife and HROT

Good that she knows; would be better to have one other person know, in case you were to die together (plane crash, car crash, murder/suicide...)

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

I wouldn’t care about seeing ARs and modern rifles trashed, but hate to just get rid of old collector pistols without knowing anything about them. Maybe one belonged to Teddy Roosevelt and he carried it in war, or it was Chuck Yeager’s .38 he wore in WWII.

 

[lucas80]

I've mentioned this before, but the FIL died without leaving a will. He died without leaving anyone the power to access his money. Somehow, even though he was an accountant he hadn't filed a tax return in 5-6 years. He'd gone bankrupt after the divorce from the MIL, and there were still two creditors looking for about $5000 apiece for old medical bills. He left behind four storage units filled with box after box of papers.
I still have PTSD about the year or so that took to clean up, and I didn't even do much except clean out the storage units, and his apartment that had one bedroom and the living room filled from floor to ceiling with boxes. The wife had to use quite a bit of vacation time to go to Illinois repeatedly for legal issues, and to meet with people. She had a lot of out of pocket expenses that she should have reimbursed herself for, but she didn't. The IRS wasn't too bad. The lawyer my wife hired reached an agreement for a lump sum payment. My wife still had to pay the lawyer to file a return for each year, but, it went through fairly quickly. The lawyer was pretty sanguine. "He's dead, the IRS just wants money if there is nobody to punish".

 

[NoleinATL]

Personal rant here. My wife's uncle had a stroke. His a widower with no children. He owns property and has a good retirement all totaled, probably an estate of around $1.5 million... and my mother-in-law (his sister) nor his other sister know anything about his finances, insurance, funeral wishes, etc. They don't know if he has a will, advance directive...medical power of attorney. And we literally have no idea where he has any of this the documents, accounts etc. I set up an estate attorney consultation for my MIL and sister....guess who had to pay the retainer....now we have to set up a guardianship and if he didn't have a will or can't find the will....we'll have to figure out a way to protect his assets before he does and it goes into intestate succession....just having to clear title is going to be a giant expensive pain in the ass...

As an aside, where do you take old pistols to be disposed?

Excellent advice, even for people who are young. Thinking about death and what you want to happen is hugely important and as Fij said saves your family a ton of time and effort.



Fiji,
Prior to having said pistols disposed of, can you share some photos of old pistols? user name at gmail if you do not want to post in a thread.
I would be happy to determine how worthless they are and offer you a fair price based on the terrible condition


if you do not want to post here DM

 

[beanerhawk]

I've mentioned this before, but the FIL died without leaving a will. He died without leaving anyone the power to access his money. Somehow, even though he was an accountant he hadn't filed a tax return in 5-6 years. He'd gone bankrupt after the divorce from the MIL, and there were still two creditors looking for about $5000 apiece for old medical bills. He left behind four storage units filled with box after box of papers.
I still have PTSD about the year or so that took to clean up, and I didn't even do much except clean out the storage units, and his apartment that had one bedroom and the living room filled from floor to ceiling with boxes. The wife had to use quite a bit of vacation time to go to Illinois repeatedly for legal issues, and to meet with people. She had a lot of out of pocket expenses that she should have reimbursed herself for, but she didn't. The IRS wasn't too bad. The lawyer my wife hired reached an agreement for a lump sum payment. My wife still had to pay the lawyer to file a return for each year, but, it went through fairly quickly. The lawyer was pretty sanguine. "He's dead, the IRS just wants money if there is nobody to punish".

Just curious, did he at least have enough money to cover the bills and taxes he owed?

 

[Fijimn]

Excellent advice, even for people who are young. Thinking about death and what you want to happen is hugely important and as Fij said saves your family a ton of time and effort.



Fiji,
Prior to having said pistols disposed of, can you share some photos of old pistols? user name at gmail if you do not want to post in a thread.
I would be happy to determine how worthless they are and offer you a fair price based on the terrible condition


if you do not want to post here DM

I just saw this. I didn't mean to imply, by my use of "pistols," that they were antique firearms. I think we are talking about a couple Saturday night specials and a .22. But I'll check when I see my MIL.

 

[lucas80]

Just curious, did he at least have enough money to cover the bills and taxes he owed?

Eventually. I paid for his funeral, but as things were sorted out he had enough to cover what he owed. Once the wife gained access to his assets she moved some things around, and created a little cash. One of the weird things is he was paying the IRS, but, just never filed a return. The estate had to pay some penalties, but there wasn't a huge amount owed. Around $50,000 to the Feds. Slightly less to Illinois. He had an insurance policy that Liberty Mutual screwed up and didn't cancel, which paid out $250,000. That was a little nerve wracking. They desperately tried to cancel it, but couldn't. Long story short, it was a policy from work, and as he lost his ability to work due to ALS, he quickly passed away. They should have cancelled it, but didn't, it was all paid up on his end, and after almost a year they had to pay up.
He owned two vehicles, and his rent was paid up. He didn't owe too much, thankfully. But, it was a mess.

 

[Dirt Boy 2]

Excellent advice, even for people who are young. Thinking about death and what you want to happen is hugely important and as Fij said saves your family a ton of time and effort.



Fiji,
Prior to having said pistols disposed of, can you share some photos of old pistols? user name at gmail if you do not want to post in a thread.
I would be happy to determine how worthless they are and offer you a fair price based on the terrible condition


if you do not want to post here DM

I’m screwed when it comes to this. In-laws have a bunch of stuff over the decades. FIL’s mother died when he was little and he was an only child and his dad married 2 more times to women with no children. All that stuff was kept. House, farm, 2 storage units full. It is all packed away neatly. Repeatedly tells his 2 daughters don’t just unload all the stuff, some of it has a lot of value. Well it might if you find the right buyer.
Wife also has a autistic brother who lives on his own but can do so because the in-laws check on him every day.
FIL made my wife the executor because we live close. Pissed off the SIL who lives 7 hours away, she likes to give orders but could care less to help carry them out. She will be the one to insist on squeezing every penny out of the estate regardless of the time commitment because of being lower income and “that is what dad wants”. Never mind being an instant millionaire when the folks pass, from inheriting farm ground.
FIL just won’t let the stuff go. They ask me every year what I want for Christmas from them. I’ve suggested not buying me crap just give me some tools. All oddball pieces made in China, nothing valuable, tools that sat in various tractor tool boxes over the years. He could outfit 3 grandsons with a complete set of tools and still have a couple sets left over. The 2 granddaughters will each have enough sewing machines, fabric/quilts, silver, and China dinnerware for a couple generations.
So much stuff. Good news is my wife is the opposite of her dad and not sentimental at all. At least when it comes to my stuff.

 

[beanerhawk]

Eventually. I paid for his funeral, but as things were sorted out he had enough to cover what he owed. Once the wife gained access to his assets she moved some things around, and created a little cash. One of the weird things is he was paying the IRS, but, just never filed a return. The estate had to pay some penalties, but there wasn't a huge amount owed. Around $50,000 to the Feds. Slightly less to Illinois. He had an insurance policy that Liberty Mutual screwed up and didn't cancel, which paid out $250,000. That was a little nerve wracking. They desperately tried to cancel it, but couldn't. Long story short, it was a policy from work, and as he lost his ability to work due to ALS, he quickly passed away. They should have cancelled it, but didn't, it was all paid up on his end, and after almost a year they had to pay up.
He owned two vehicles, and his rent was paid up. He didn't owe too much, thankfully. But, it was a mess.

That's good news, you hate to hear someone go through all that work and end up with no money at the end of the road.

 

[lucas80]

That's good news, you hate to hear someone go through all that work and end up with no money at the end of the road.

It isn’t about the money. We never counted on anything from him. In the end there was some money, and 115 acres of prime farmland left. It’s the point that the OP is making that matters. You hate to speak ill of the dead, but it was silly that he didn’t have a will, or ANYONE with POA, or a roadmap, at least. As he lingered in hospice he was offered the chance at a simple will, and he refused. He just kept saying he wasn’t going to die.