A Personal Take on Wills
I hope that you can forgive me for taking a focus on our Fiscal Health this week. As our class on fiscal health comes to a close this week, it only seems appropriate that I give it a little bit of attention on our blog.
Week one of our Fiscal Health discussions was focused on Wills and Trusts. This particular topic has been a burr under my family's saddle for quite some time. Writing a will is so easy to discuss; and, so difficult to carry out. Why do you think that is? I know that it can be a lengthy, and somewhat costly adventure. Ultimately, it could end up saving a lot in the end. If you can handle a little bit of my personal history, I would like to discuss these thoughts for just a bit.
Back a couple of years before I was born and my sister was just a babe, my family was faced with the unthinkable. As my aunt and uncle were traveling from Woodburn, OR to Hayden Lake, ID for a family wedding, they were struck and killed by a semi-truck. Traveling with them, and surviving, was my cousin, Kevin. He was 3 months old. Being young, and supposedly invincible, my aunt and uncle left this world without a will....without a plan to care for their infant son.
For at least two years, my parents fought the courts of Oregon for the legal right to adopt my cousin. If you noticed, I said cousin....not brother. In my personal opinion, without divulging too much information, I don't believe that the courts made a good choice in the life of my cousin. It was a heartbreaking, life changing event in my family's history. We have a relationship with my cousin....but not anywhere near what I feel it should have, could have, been. Things could have been so much different....if there had been a will.
Now, you would think that with a family history like that, Tim and I would have a will. Unfortunately, we don't. My mother often reminds me of that particular oversight. Would it be fair to put my children, and our families, through the same heartache my parents went through nearly 40 years ago? No. Heaven forbid should something happen to Tim and I before we finally get our will made out!!!
A will is a way of passing on not just your assets....but your values. What is the legacy that you want to leave behind? When you write your will...you decide where your possessions go. You decide who will raise your children. You decide who will be responsible for carrying your wishes out. A will is your final thoughts, wishes....words. You finally get the last word....no arguments.
There is the greatest benefit of a will.....no arguments. Families are easily torn apart when the vultures sweep in to claim their portion of the booty. What an ugly legacy to leave behind. Instead of leaving words of blessing, fighting and bickering over possessions becomes the final word...the final taste left in your survivors' mouths. Take control now of what will happen then....leave a will.
What happens if you don't leave a will? Who will decide what happens with your possessions.... or who will care for your children? If you don't decide, the State makes the decision for you. I won't even go there on my thoughts about that. Just, please, write that will.
So, what is the first step in getting your will written? Hopefully I have taken care of the first step by getting you motivated. The second step in my opinion? Come to this last fiscal health class. There are "coupons" to pick up that give you a free half-hour consultation with a lawyer to discuss a will. Perfect.
As for me? I noticed that my husband picked up one of those coupons this last Sunday. If we actually get that will written before our Walk is over, I am tacking on a truckload of miles to my tally! Care to walk with us?
Laying it bare again.....
Christine
Posted in: on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at at 10:30 AM