Y'all got a will?

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
Once you are gone, I'm SURE you don't want your family fighting over stuff.

I must admit, fighting over my stuff MIGHT be worthy of a pay per view lol. Lawyers, judges, and octagon etc. I have firearms (old an antiquated, the best ones Tipmoose lost when he flipped my canoe), targets, fans, antlers, pictures, thats about it worth fighting over.

I'm not going to waste precious breaths doing a poll but some things to consider.

A. Do you have one?
B. Is it up to date?
B.2 How SPECIFIC is it?
C. Your kids bought you ancestry.com for your birthday and guess what??? You have more than 2 kids! More than 4 even!
C. You Just inherited something from a loss in the family (in laws?), but guess what, you OWE against it!
E. Now you have to split up what you (as a family) just inherited, including tractors, bush hogs, tracts of land, farming leases, etc.
Foxtrot. Art paintings? how do you split them 3 ways? Google Worth? (actually I might try to create that app). ;)

Y'all got kids, and THEY have kids.

Do y'all plan on leaving them land? Lessons? Or other.

Thanks.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
Yes
Yes
Very
Far as I am going. LOL
I hate you!!
I didn't expect to have to go back and match answers with integers lol. Touche!!!!!!

Can everyone else from here on else spell it out in simplified terms (for those of us simplified)?

Dand you Nccatfisher!

Thanks ;).
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
I don't have anyone to leave it all to....

So I was planning a fight night.
Make a pile in a big field, run an ad for a month.
Load all the guns pile everything up and have someone pull the lanyard on the cannon.

When my ash goes a flying so can everyone else.
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
Yes, uh, no, maybe Ok, what?
Well, this is basically a worthless thread.:rolleyes:

Some good information on wills would be of real benefit. Like who do you want as an executor? Family member, a good friend, a lawyer?
 

nchawkeye

Old Mossy Horns
I've had a will since I was 24, (I'm 65 now)...When your Dad dies when you are 20 you take care of these things...Yep, it's up to date and specific enough...I just went through my Mom passing a couple of years ago and took care of selling farmland, equipment, beach properties, etc, it all went pretty smoothly as my brothers and sisters let me take care of it...

As far as selling properties for others with multiple owners, I've been doing that for others for the last several years, it's really not that complicated once you do it a few dozen times... :)
 

Moose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Yup I got one.... not having any kids I 'm leaving most to friends. Recently updated after a falling out with a friend.... dude talked non stop about how good a wing cook he was ..... after 4 hours or so I just made a PBJ and went to bed.... ;)
 

roundball

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
FWIW, IMO, unless someone has a large complex set of circumstances, several companies have come out with a set of individual state approved will documents that you can just fill out, get notarized, done.

I bought the "Quicken WillMaker Plus" copy for North Carolina back when I retired.
Went through it section by section (like doing taxes with Turbo-Tax)...took a couple hours.
Then got a couple copies notarized.
Wife and I have a copy in a fireproof document bag in the gun safe.
And have a copy off-site in the bank safe deposit box.
 

ncscrubmaster

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
My wife and I have one. Everything is spelled if one of us goes or both at the same time. There will be no infighting here or you get cut out. I don’t have a lot to leave behind but there shouldn’t be any questions.
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
we have wills but haven’t updated in 25 years.....daughter not even listed as who would take care.......no worries now.... all grown beyond needing care if we pass......Guns are the only thing I need to tighten up as to who gets what......I will make an exact list who gets what physical property....and soon! We have put off updating too long! I just need a gun list and the rest of the bills they can split!!

have any of you used legal zoom to do your wills?
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
On a serious note......if you do not have a will, do a little research and either get one of the fill in the blanks versions that is legal where you have property or make an appointment with an attorney and get one drawn up. The more complicated your property situation or family situation is the more important it becomes to have a lawyer involved.

Business owners, whether proprietorships or incorporated need plans for business transfers. partnerships can get messy at the death of a partner without a plan.

My situation is not all that complicated but I chose to have a local attorney do my will.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
C. Your kids bought you ancestry.com for your birthday and guess what??? You have more than 2 kids! More than 4 even!
if that’s a concern you need to bring it up with your lawyer. It can be planned around, addressed...

C. You Just inherited something from a loss in the family (in laws?), but guess what, you OWE against it!
I don’t owe anything. If I can‘t afford I’ll sell it. If it’s worth less than what’s owed I’ll denounce it and the bank can have it back and get in line to collect the difference from the estate if they want .
E. Now you have to split up what you (as a family) just inherited, including tractors, bush hogs, tracts of land, farming leases, etc.
Foxtrot. Art paintings? how do you split them 3 ways? Google Worth? (actually I might try to create that app). ;)

Y'all got kids, and THEY have kids.

Do y'all plan on leaving them land? Lessons? Or other.

Stuff is easy. If one kid wants the Picasso he can purchase it from the estate. If Dad left that kid the Picasso in the will then it doesn’t matter if you think it’s fair or not. Antiques, and tractors and guns and paintings and coins all have people that will appraise them. It’s the executors job to wind it all up. If the heirs want to be cantankerous and squabble, they can squabble at the auction or sale.

When my grandmother died my uncle was the executor and for the contents of the home, people drew numbers from a hat, 1-5, and put their name on one item. Then the reverse order (so number 5 got choices 5 and 6, number 1 choices 1 and 10.) Wash, rinse repeat til they were done claiming stuff they wanted for sentimental or practical reasons. At that point the rest of the contents were sold at auction. In the case of my dad’s dad the executrix (my aunt) said “if anyone wants anything from the house, it needs to be gone by Wednesday when the estate sale folks come.”


We had to tell an elderly aunt that she couldn’t take her sisters car for her grandson and she couldn’t take her sister’s silver unless she wanted to cut a check for it. She didn’t, she was cheap and looking to score a bonus. Mom was the executrix in this case and my brother handled the sale on Craigslist and mom signed the paperwork and distributed proceeds to the heirs (said aunt got 1/5th of the $4200 the xar

A business, like a farm, is different. Really, that needs to be planned for. Absent that, if you die with a crop in the field the executor should coordinate to finish up and get it to market at the end of the season; if he can run the tractor, great, if he has to hire it out so be it. I do know that at one point my Mom owned 1/50th of a tobacco farm and got a check for a couple hundred bucks a year for it (her Mom owned 1/10th and her kids inherited that.) But it was just land that was leased; the tractors and everything else were sold either when my great grandparents were old or after they passed. Eventually they sold the land.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
One last thought...per stirpes vs per capita. Per stirpes means that if an heir dies before the person bequeathing them does, then their heirs/next of kin inherit their portion. Per capita means that the share is simply divided among the remaining surviving heirs.

one grandparent had a per capita will. When my grandfather passed one of his sons was terminally ill. My Aunt (executrix) had to really hustle to wind some of it up, to get him and his wife their share, not only to ease the financial strain of a Debilitating cancer battle but avoid complications if he passed before that could be handled. The flip side I suppose would have been if his kids were little/young then you have it managed by the Mom/DIL/widow which some get leery about.
 

UncleFester

Old Mossy Horns
Told both my boys if anything was left by the time I'm gone then I did my math wrong and I'm purty good with maths......


All kidding aside. Yes, verrrry detailed.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Yes, uh, no, maybe Ok, what?
Well, this is basically a worthless thread.:rolleyes:

Some good information on wills would be of real benefit. Like who do you want as an executor? Family member, a good friend, a lawyer?
Trustworthy, not intimidated by paperwork, task oriented. Ideally hard shelled and less emotional. If you have a family member that fits, great. If your friend fits, ive seen that too. If you must hire an attorney, do that assuming the estate is worth it.

I understand that there were hurt feelings when a Son-in-law was chosen as the executor for my wife’s grandparents. But he’s the right choice. He’s in the RE/banking business, he’s an Eagle Scout. The one person that wanted the job really shouldn’t have it. The other kids, while intelligent and trustworthy, aren’t well equipped to handle the many rentals involved afterwards.
 

Zach's Grandpa

Old Mossy Horns
Dying without a will only leaves problems for someone to clean up after you are gone. Age doesn't matter, if you own anything and have any relatives you need a will. It comes down to having someone of your choice in control or having someone at the Clerk of Court's Office in control. With a will most estates can be settled in about six months, without a will it can take years. I have personal experience with one that took three years.
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
I have been most fortunate from the looks of things, being an only child and having only one child myself. When my father passed about 25 years ago he had no will. Mama called the Clerk of Court and asked what she must do. They told her that nothing was necessary as all his assets were hers at his passing. When Mama died, the home place had already been put in my name years ago and I was on all her bank accounts so I did nothing. Pretty much the same thing when I die. What I have is my wife's and she knows what to do with anything in specific. I'm good.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I have wills, powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney and living wills set up. All of my stuff goes to my wife and vice versa. After that, my two kids split everything 50/50. Most of my estate is in my retirement and bank accounts. Those assets get passed to our beneficiaries outside of the will which also make those assets avoid probate.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Mama called the Clerk of Court and asked what she must do. They told her that nothing was necessary as all his assets were hers at his passing.

that clerk was wrong unless it was a LONG time ago,,like prior to 1960,,, and before then it was a real mess where depending on how the land came into the family the spouse may get nothing,,

in NC if one passes without a will, the estate goes 1/2 total interest to surviving spouse and 1/2 total interest to surviving children (split evenly) or deceased child's children,, the children (or the surviving spouse) can do quitclaims and it functionally ends up in one set of hands,, but only if they want to,,,

if no children, the parents get looped in,,

if it was done otherwise, it wasn't probated correctly,,, but since you're the only child doubt there is issues,,,

I have probated 3 estates in NC and 1 estate in Wisconsin (doesn't count here),,, dyeing without a will can cause way more issues than with one,,,

my FIL and MIL both passed with no will - still dealing with the final issues on that,,,and it's been 4 years,,,
 

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
Of course we have wills, what kind of PARENT doesn't?
Should a accident happen and take both parents at the same time the kids will have a nightmare on their hands.......seen it a few times.
I had a will when single, too.
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
No problem. Not arguing a point, just relating my experience. I guess, when daddy died 25 years ago things were a little different. Everybody knew everyone and since there is no real reason to argue within family it appeared to be no issue, especially knowing the Clerk at the time. With Mama, everything was already in my name so she had nothing except life time rights to the house. I guess time will tell what happens with me.
 

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
What's just as important, is a MASTER LOCATOR.
This has all life insurance policy #'s and phone #'s.
All investment acct #'s and phone #'s.
And ANY info heirs will need to open and close your estate.
Dad had one and it sure was helpful.
 

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
What's just as important, is a MASTER LOCATOR.
This has all life insurance policy #'s and phone #'s.
All investment acct #'s and phone #'s.
And ANY info heirs will need to open and close your estate.
Dad had one and it sure was helpful.
This I need look into my stuff is way to unorganized
 

THHEAT

Twelve Pointer
You might want to look at this site, it contains a pdf on just about everything someone would need when you pass away. It is rather lengthy but will be a great deal of help for whomever is handling your affairs. I have filled it out and have a three copies. 1 (Safe) 1 (daughhter) 1 (sealed in my sisters safe)

I believe this is similar to what 41magnum described.

 
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