Couch Cushion Does Not Invalidate Will 

Death usually brings out the best in your neighbors and worst in your family.

When my mom died while everyone was worried about " valuables " I got the most valuable thing (to me), her cookbook with all the notes on recipe variations.

you know the old saying: "where there's a will, there's an inheritance dispute"

My dad is 83 and still going. I don't want his assets when he dies. My step mom will get everything first. Dad is so senile right now. He doesn't even remember me. I doubt he made up a will. I sure miss the man he used to be.

I remember hearing a story about 40ish years ago about a farmer who, in an accident, got pinned under his tractor. He knew his situation was dire, but before he died, he was able to pull a watermelon to himself and wrote his last will in marker on the melon. Apparently the court accepted it as his last will.

I keep telling my parents not to leave me anything in their will. I have 7 siblings and I don’t want to be in the middle of any property disputes bc someone thought they should have gotten more than the other. I already have a house and land, so I don’t need what they have. I have told them to leave me something sentimental if they feel the need to leave me anything. Stuff that I have claimed from dead relatives are things like my grandmothers cedar chest, another grandmothers cast iron pan, my grandfathers dog tags and his nut cracker. I could probably buy everything I’ve ever claimed from a deceased family member with 200-300$. Each one of the things have a special meaning to me and when I use them I remember my dead relatives. When I put something in the cedar chest I remember my grandmother. When I crack a pecan I remember my grandfather. When I cook in that cast iron pan, I remember my grandmothers cooking. I don’t want their money or property. I have seen way too many people fighting over material things after their family members die. It’s sad and I don’t want any part of it.

I was bequeathed a few thousand dollars from an elderly lady I had known from church. At the time I was the music director. Hardly anyone knew she was quite wealthy. She also left most of her wealth to various organizations rather than to her grandchildren. She had only one living child who was in an institution, and for that child she left a sizable trust. The grand children fought for over a year to alter her will. They had an alternate will written by her deceased son who had forged her signature. When she passed we had no idea we were looking at close to $70M. Eventually, the forged will was dismissed. The grandchildren will only receive several hundred thousand dollars instead of millions.

As an attorney in Georgia, I'm glad that my state does not allow holographic wills, because of the additional issues it creates. But, on the flipside, requiring two disinterested witnesses and a notary be present to create a valid will presents some logistical hurdles for people who want to DIY the will. An attorney's office can often have two people on the staff witness the will, and generally have a notary around, but if you take a will to most places that offer notary services (such as a bank or a UPS store), finding two willing people to witness it can be a pain, and you can't use anyone who is getting something in the will as a witness, which in many cases disqualifies family members from helping out.

My parents did not want us kids battling over their estate, so from childhood began asking us if there was anything we wanted them to list in the will. Every time they update their will, they send a copy to each of us. Because we've been talking about this for years, we are able to joke about it. Often, when we give Mom a gift, we will add to the card "I want this back when you die." We all know that the stuff is not important, and Mom and Dad think it is far more important that we remain family when they are gone. I wonder if the later will was in the couch cushions to hide it from the son who contested it.

Interesting! My sister died without a will. She left a document that could be considered a will except it wasn’t signed. It cost $6000 to go to court and legally make it her will and nobody was contesting it. Don’t forget to sign and date your will.

I was briefly part of a wealthy family, my dad married into a very interesting situation. There was a grandmother who was loaded, something 500million. She had 3 daughters, my dad married one of those daughters. Every month the 3 daughters, their lawyers, and their mother's lawyers, would have a meeting for a couple of hours to argue amongst themselves about who controls what for their mother. This was a monthly thing and it was expensive. This was a time before any easy way to do conference calls so one of the lawyers would set that up as well from their office phone system. In this particular family one of the three daughters (not the one my dad married) was constantly suing the other family members including the mom for various reasons. In families like this they are accustomed to having lawyers involved in everything they do, they lose sight of the costs and how to just have normal discussions. Money changes people in dramatic ways. And the more people involved the more prevalent that change.

My Dad's lawyer said how refreshing it was that me and my brother didn't argue or squabble once during the settlement of his estate. Which was funny because he and I fought over pretty much everything our entire lives, but in this we were united and we were both just missing our Dad. It was the start of a much different relationship between us, I wish we didn't have to lose our Dad to get to this point though.

My 72-year-old cousin had a $8 million farm and assets that it was always thought he would distribute among the family since he had no wife or children. Six months before he died he went to a lawyer and gave everything to a tiny 32 year old blonde. The world was as good as gold. Mostly because the bulk of the family had treated him like crap and she was nice to him in many ways :-)

Years ago, my previous wife, was a home health care worker. She took care of a very wealthy man who was dieing, but still had all his mental facilities. He had four subilings, three were alway dressed to the nines, forced their kids to be nice to their grandfather and would order my wife around to get them stuff. The other was a nice lady who worked and would come in three or four or more times a week after work to see and be with him, she would also spend weekends, when the care workers weren't there. When he died he had everything setup and planned. In his will he had his kids sit down at a table and play poker, the winner would get the bulk of the estate. I heard that kind lady won, but I never heard anything else.

My mil died with a will but in a state that had a condition that if the estate had no real estate and was worth less than $20k there was no need to file even for probate. That however means you are missing some docs you can need. It took a lawyers letter, fortunately only that, to straighten out several claimants including the county. The Medicaid wanted to claw back the money they had spent just prior to her death. In addition to that the hospital kept sending bills without claiming Medicaid, they were filing it wrong. The hospital finally, in order to clear something up demanded a death certificate … she died in their hospital and didn’t have a death certificate? That’s odd!

My uncle's family, they've been dead for maybe 20 yrs. I think they are still fighting over stupid stuff. My mom & dad witnessed this, devised a simple solution for their 9 kids. They had has all draw numbers from a hat. Then each person got to choose items in the house according to their number. They did this once or twice a year. They would have a big party, gather all of us there, we would pick. We were free to swap with each other. Inherited items could not be sold outside the family unless they were offered to all the other kids first. Today, mom has been gone four years. Never has there been a fight over their estate. We all still gather, just not to draw names. I expect to be dead next year or so. My estate was settled last year just so there is no doubt about my intentions. Thanks Steve!

My mother passed without a will (father already deceased). She did not have a large estate, only the house she lived in and 5 acres of land. A family member objected to an equal division of moms property between moms kids, and because of that, it turned into a multiple year ordeal for what should have been simple. I can tell you from experience, it is imperative to have a will of some sort, or the equivalent, such as an estate trust.

My grandmother's solicitor (out of court lawyer here in Ireland) advised her to give the proceeds of the sale of her house in equal shares to her three children. Result: no one quarreled, all of them were on good terms, their widows/widowers still are. Smart lawyer, solved the problem before it was a problem.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned William Jennens yet. First thing that came to mind when Steve mentioned estates being squandered in legal battles. Jennens died in 1798 and at the time was described as the richest man in Britain. Legal battles over his estate started shortly after and didn't end till 1915. I believe he had a will in his pocket when he died but it was unsigned. The case was pretty infamous and even ended up immortalized by Charles Dickens in Bleak House.

..but did it say in the will who gets to keep the couch?

A dozen or so years ago, the California Court of Appeal validated a will that was a page in a pad of paper. Also in the pad was a shopping list and a Blockbuster rental list (it was written that long ago.). It came out just before I needed to write a midterm exam question for the estate class I was teaching at an Orange County law school.

I've written my aunt's will for her, she didn't have much and at the time of her death she had been in a nursing home 11:41 so really had nothing anymore. No one fought me over who was going to pay the funeral expenses. lol. My dad showed us his will each time he has written one, so there are no surprises.

People, please please please do a will and name an executor even if you feel like you "don't have anything." And make sure people know where your documents are. We just went through this last year. My MiL passed in August without a will. That was easy, my FiL came to live with us and whoever he needed to deal with, he could give permission for them to talk to me so I could handle the affairs. He passed in November without a will. He didn't have assets so it wasn't as hard as it could have been, but without going to court to be named executor, we couldn't do anything like close accounts and stop autodrafts. Here it is nine months later and I still have collection people calling because the car loan and the RV loan went into default because the payments stopped last November. I've given them death certificates, but they keep calling and threatening to take the dead guy to court. Please do a will and don't leave a mess for your kids to take care of after you die.

Six years ago, when my beloved wife of 34 years passed, I decided it was past time for me to make my will. My younger brother is president of a 50+ attorney law firm that specializes in wills, trusts, commercial law. I asked if he'd send me some pointers about how to do it myself. He asked what I was wanting to do, I told him. In less than 45 MINUTES, he'd emailed me back a "real lawyer drafted" will! I was SO appreciative! All goes to my stepson, with his wife the contingent beneficiary, my grandkids after that. A good feeling of relief.

My uncle wrote a will on a piece of wallpaper with a crayon (he did have his neighbor witness it) and sent it to my mother, with whom it reposed for 20 years before she gave it to me. It consisted of two short sentences, dividing the estate between two beneficiaries, me and my cousin. It was not notarized or certified in any way. The probate court accepted and processed it without a hiccup. I was informed by our lawyer that the state involved placed great legal weight on the will itself, and not on a particular form or circumstances.

My brother and I settle our mother’s estate over the phone. Our father (divorced long prior) left us the a family farm, that was always lucrative. We have a trust that we established, merely to have a place to park money to ensure good stewardship of it. Family fights over estates are so tragic, but it merely reveals character, it doesn’t create nastiness of people.

I seen it before. It is like vultures circling over the dead.

Steve, I don't know if you've done a video on probate, but you should. Most people don't know that your estate automatically goes through probate when you die, even if you have a spouse and even if you specify beneficiaries on things like brokerage and bank accounts. Probate charges you a percentage, so its essentially a death tax and ties up everything. We are working on a trust to avoid all of that. I used to be under the impression that it was sufficient to just do a will, but it isn't. Wills just simplify probate, not avoid it.

In Quebec (civil law jurisdiction) you can write your will in your own handwriting, date it and sign it, and it will be valid. It's still a good idea to go before a notary because they will register the will with the government so your family can skip probate court. You can also type out your own will with a computer, but then you must have two witnesses (as opposed to a handwritten will which requires no witnesses).

You are so right. I have seen so many families destroyed over inheritance issues. Never understood why possessing something that you did not earn yourself should be more important than your family?

You never really know someone until you share an inheritance with them. Mark Twain.

Farmers used to write checks on the side of cattle on market day and the beast would just be brought to the bank for settling up next business day... back when things were a bit more slow paced and civilised

I am happy to say that my brother, sister, and I were very much in agreement as we worked going through Mom and Dad's stuff. We had very few disagreements, and talked them through. We also were able to take almost a full year to go through things. It helped that Dad had everyone, grandkids included, review his belongings ahead of time, and he typed up a multi page document listing our choices. We continued the list in more detail after he passed. I was perhaps the worst offender, realizing after the fact that I didn't really want, or need, or have room for many of the items I'd claimed. This is a problem these days, because while most people want the money, or the house, or the car, and the toilet paper, you can't even give away the knickknacks and collectibles. Again, we were very blessed that someone at the estate sale paid for the lovely china set I didn't have room for. A big problem was that two weeks before he passed, Dad suddenly realized he wanted to give a certain amount to his church. He called his attorney, who said he would come to Dad's house and make the changes, but never did. Later, they claimed he was sick. So, some words of advice to people making their will: - Remember to make arrangements for your favorite charity or church in your will, or other documents or methods. -Designate special items to go to specific heirs. And to the heirs: - If the house or apartment must be vacated quickly, organize and box up the belongings and arrange for storage with a trustworthy party. Most important to retain all the financial and legal documents, and keep them together. Being in a hurry is bound to make minor frictions and squabbles worse.

I’m only in my early 30’s but paid an attorney to do a will/trust. I’m really surprised someone worth as much as her that she didn’t do that. It’s not cheap, but I think it’s something most people with “stuff” to will to people could afford.

I have a friend who was faced with a difficult sister as Executor of his father's will. There were also two other sisters, all of whom fought. My friend lived on almost nothing and "needed" nothing. He hired a lawyer for the sole purpose of informing the other three lawyers that if any challenge was made to dad's will, he would continue action until there was nothing left for anybody. Probate went through in no time.

I heard a story years ago, about a guy whose siblings were bitterly arguing over the estate. When asked "How much is in that estate?" the guy responded "$2,500". "$2,500 per sibling?" "No, just $2,500." "Why the heck are you guys destroying your family relationships over such a small amount?!?"

Didn't know she lived near where I lived as a kid. We just completed my mother's estate, had to do a lot of compromising like when we were selling my mother's cottage. By compromise I mean giving into whatever my older brother wanted. I wanted to sell privately, he wanted to sell with a realtor, he won. He wanted to accept an offer from the first one who made an offer, I wanted to continue with the listing, he won. When a bank account was split up amongst the three of us, my sister got the bulk, apparently banks can't divide by three. BTW, before my mother died, my brother decided to put in an electric generator since all the other cottages had them, and he was living there for the past twenty years (for free) and was afraid of the power going out. No way my mother would ever return there. Cost $35k. I went along because basically life is short too short (and I'm too old) to get into rows with family.

Recently made wills in France- they HAVE to be hand written with the notaire watching. We had them drawn up, then had to go in and write them out longhand to get them witnessed. Felt like being back at school. My wife managed to miss out a sentence and had to do it over! :-)

This is so interesting. My sister is suing me to take away my house. I'm not dead, and she doesn't get it when I die. I am going to write out in my own handwriting, "I am not dead" You can't fire the grantor.

I was glad I tuned in to hear some Aretha Franklin news!! I never knew her sons were at odds over her estate..I hate to see family members divided after someone passes away.

When working with an attorney to prepare a will and/or trust (or anything), read it carefully, very VERY carefully. We had a few iterations in which we expected certain relatively minor changes to be made. But some of the paragraphs were rearranged, and some of the references to those paragraphs had not been properly updated. A couple of statements said, effectively, "see section 3.1 for details." But section 3.1 (or whatever) had been moved, and the reference to the new 3.1 now made NO sense at all; the referenced text had nothing to do with what was referencing it. It was bad enough that 1 or 2 referenced items did not even exist! (We noticed that first, which prompted our closer reading of the entire document, when we found more incorrect references.) And this was when we read the FINAL version just prior to signing. A court could have had fun with that. If someone notices that several references are OBVIOUSLY wrong, then everything could come under suspicion. "Does this really refer to Jack? That's weird, in context it makes more sense to refer to Jill." There may be internal inconsistencies -- "Jack must meet this goal before she is eligible for this." An obviously male name referred to later by a female pronoun? Which is intended? The whole meaning could be wrong or invalidated just due to a few typos!

I had a lawyer friend of mine said he was handling a divorce. The husband told him he wanted the lawyer fees to totally bankrupt them so his wife gets nothing.

The "couch cushion" is a silly argument. I wonder if someone asked them "Are you saying that if this same hand-written will was found in an unlocked desk drawer that it would be perfectly fine?"

This story hits me different because I watched two deaths destroy two families. My own and an extended family. After my Grandfather passed, the body wasn't even cold and the fight was on. Aunts and Uncles actually broke in to his home and stole goods from it before the will was even read. My Mom (baby of the large family) got the lion's share which was practically everything. Of course the Aunts and Uncles contested it and miraculously they all seemed to have the "real" will in their possession that no one but them have ever seen or even knew of. It was disgusting to watch play out. I have had no immediate use for any of my family after that. The other was an extended family where again, the matriarch of the family had been very clear who gets what with her passing and again the lion's share went to my Mom. Everything else pretty much went to grandkids and skipped over her own kids and this was because when her parents died, they left everything to her BUT she opted to let it all go over her and to the grandkids (her own kids) and she thought that since they already received an inheritance that a second one wouldn't be fitting. So they contested of course and that led to a nasty and disgusting battle. Like with my own family, her kids broke in to our home and looted the place. Sad too because when the cops showed up we told them exactly how they would've gotten in and to fingerprint the location and they couldn't be bothered. In the end, my Mom was "bought out" of the will and the home we were living in. The kids used the argument that they were her "lawful children" and therefore should be entitled to everything and the courts actually sided with them. For a while, there was one hold out (because ALL kids had to be party to the contest) and I had hoped it would be him, but eventually even he opted in and from that moment on they were all dead to me. The grandkids got nothing by the way. Her kids took everything. This is why I told my Mom that when she passes to just give everything to my brother and be done with it. We were never a wealthy family, all things considered, and my Mom doesn't have some huge estate to divvy up, so it's not worth even being part of the distribution after she passes. She argued to keep it 50/50 and to this day I keep telling her to not bother because if there's even the smallest most infinitesimal chance that my brother would contest, I want to no part of it. Better just to give it all to him and be done with it. No, I'm not independently wealthy either, but after seeing what it did to two families already I want no part of those shitshow shenanigans myself directly. I ain't having it.

My parents taught a great lesson. When they died almost everything they owned had already been assigned to an heir. My mother left a list of her jewelry stating who got what and the furniture and art work had our names on the back. There were no fights or arguments over anything. The only thing we couldn’t all agree on was a small piece of silver with little monetary value. Two of the grandsons wanted it for sentimental reasons. They flipped a coin, winner got the item, loser got something else he wanted that nobody else had given a thought to. We learned the lesson. Our kids have copies of everything and know exactly how things are to be divided.

As an Australian I was surprised that it was up to a jury to determine this case. I would have expected this to be a question of law decided by a judge.

They should show the will some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. _Edit: I should have known that I would not be the first to make this joke, there is a chain of fools._

"besides the practical problem of thinking about it after you die...." (7:57) classic Steve Lehto LOL One of my favorites for lines I have heard him say!

Aretha Franklin is DEFINITELY "the queen of soul"! Personally, I'm a rocker but, my absolute, all time favorite band is ZZ Top due to their mix of soul, blues and rock. However, anytime an Aretha Franklin song is playing, I stop and take notice. Her voice is unmistakable!

I was waiting to here Steve start singing R E S P E C T but was let down :-(

I have a relative who tried to take everything for himself and took others in my family to court when they didn't co-operate. I won't go into details, but let's just say he could not come up with a good rebuttal when everything he alleged was proven incorrect.

Ben trying to push the little Red Tesla off the top of the box for the Turbine car, might hurt it's resale value?, Steve's LHS

you've answered a question at the end of this that cured a question i've had for 20 years of what happened to my great grandfather's will, he rewrote it but not by his hand so was considered invalided and his estate was treated without a will (since the previous will went to his wife whom passed away 3 years earlier with no other directions).

we lived through it with my husband grand-father passed away. 2 of the 10 children decided they were not happy with the decisions made and brought the will infront of the courts. so instead of sharing 80k they ended up sharing 12k after legal fees. it broke a family up.

I suppose I am blessed. I once worked with a guy in eastern Kentucky doing construction. He was telling me that when his mother died, his siblings couldn't agree on who got what, so they just burnt the house to the ground! When my father died, my siblings and I fought over who HAD to take his stuff. None of us wanted anything. My little sister asked for the flag that was on his coffin and we all agreed she could have it. When I got home from that meeting, I found several things that one of my siblings had snuck into my briefcase!

Whomever brings the U-Haul first, gets the most.

I've listened to Ms Franklin's live performance of Nessun Dorma many times. They say her Italian is atrocious, but I would not know any difference. It brings tears to my eyes every time.

The document began, "What you want...baby I got...."

Some great-great grandparents on my dads side were quite wealthy when they died, 1000s of acres of prime bottom land. They didnt divide the estate evenly and the kids lawyered up. Fight lasted like a decade, perfect for a multigenerational feud, Ive heard about it since I was a kid; and when the dust settled, nothing was left for anyone, the lawyers wound up with it all. My grandparents wound up with a handmade one-room house (extended several times and eventually wired, plumbed and a furnace added) on 2 acres that I considered to have no cash value cause it looked like it was gonna collapse any minute. (apparently I was wrong, its still on google maps, SOMEBODY must live there).

There was a restaurant/attraction near where I grew up called The Nut Tree. It got started in the 1920's as a stand on the side of the highway that sold products from their orchards, selling fruits and nuts. It grew into a very successful business that included an airport attached to the restaurant and people came from all over. They made a huge amount of money, and were still making that money when the tail of their Bonanza came off due to an overspeed and the owners were killed unexpectedly. After the plane crash the kids of the owner started fighting over the estate. This caused the Nut Tree to close and eventually all the buildings were torn down. A very sad story where there was plenty for all the kids, but all the kids wanted everything, and instead they lost it all.

Never leave a property/house to multiple people, it will turn out to be a nightmare. Good way to destroy a family. I have one child, he gets it all. He can do what he wants with my stuff.

I remember my inheritance law lecture. The professor admitted that he didn't really know inheritance law and was just teaching the book. It was the best lecture this particular professor gave, according to my experience in his legal history lectures and what people told me about his civil law course. (Legal history being his chosen field of study, he knew a lot, but was a horrid educator, jumping back and forth between topics, never sticking to his script. As for his civil law course, which I never attended, I had a different prof there, rumor has it that he kept forgetting about the German laws of obligations getting completely overhauled in 2002. (I was in law school in the 2010s))

"Aside from the practical problems of thinking about it AFTER you die!". I died!😂😆

Ever since I saw a documentary titled Edith and Eddie; a story about an elderly woman in a relationship with an elderly man, who had her family members use the relationship as proof that she was unable to make sound decisions in her life, I have been weary of revealing my net worth and establishing a will. The documentary insinuates that greed was the motive for removing the woman from her home and the relationship and transferring her to Florida. Eddie wasn't a rich woman but she owned property and had a pension. Certain family members wanted control of her and her assets. The documentary gave me nightmares! I could easily see myself in that situation. I am not rich but I do have assets and a pension and untrustworthy family members. They don't know my net worth and I want to keep it that way until after my death. I don't want them fighting over my assets. I also don't want some random person in the court system misusing my assets for elderly care I neither want nor need. A couch-will may solve one problem. I would love to hear if Steve has ideas on establishing a living will, decisions on my care if I am actually incapacitated, when one doesn't know who to trust. Thanks for the video❤

I've seen families fight over estates and divorce until nothing was left. All of a sudden, the lawyers want both sides to settle.

"The Famous Gilson Bequest" , a short story by Ambrose Bierce, wonderfully illustrates the way probate can grind up even large estates.

LOL If I have papers I need to keep track of I put them under the cushion of my chair. If I had a will that would probably where you would find it.

My father's mother died without a will; his father therefore inherited the hunting lodge they ran together. As she was the one who made the whole thing work (he would never, ever admit this), he was not able to make a go of it and had to sell it. He bought a house just down the river from it and moved in; he died 9 years later. His sister made him get his affairs in order just in time so his estate, while complicated, was finally settled satisfactorily. Upon his death my father inherited the house he lived in and moved there in retirement. When he moved out to assisted living many years later we went through his things (mostly his father's things) to ready the house for sale. In boxing up the books we found his mother's will folded and inserted in one of them; her half of the lodge interest she willed to my father, but no one knew about the will except possibly her husband who may have hidden it. My father left a proper will and trust so that there would be no issues. All in all, her will made no difference in what might have ensured, but my father would not have been a good partner in the lodge that failed except to maybe be stuck with debt.

Thank you for validating the coffee can buried in the back yard! :)

my sister, who I don't speak to anymore, didn't even show me the Will, never did a legal inventory before she took most everything, and never gave me an accounting of any financials... I do know my fathers wishes were a 50/50 split and suspect that didn't happen... I did get about what I expected by what she claimed was in his estate and felt a fight wasn't worth it after my sister told me that "her lawyer" told her that the way Dad put her name on a joint bank account that she owed me NOTHING... I had my own personal issues I was dealing with without opening up that can of worms... we just don't talk and sadly she doesn't even know why and I really don't feel like bursting her naïve little world as it has no value to me to explain all her bad action as she'd argue she never "thought"... which his her main problem... too many thoughtless actions...

Mo-Town was a record label but now days it generally refers to a particular soulful sound from that area around that time.

Excellent video Steve. The video seems to be better defined and nicely lighted. Did you get a new camera?

I'm the middle child of 3 boys and for very good reason, have as little contact with my older brother as possible. However, this doesn't mean we are stupid people. When our father died, his will was pretty clear as to who got what. Both my brothers had certain items (tools) that they had borrowed which were left to me and both delivered the items with no hassle. They both requested to be able to finish their projects before handing them over which was fine by me. Our mother is still alive and has remarried twice. After her 2nd husband died, there was some bickering among the other family but because he and our mother had a prenuptial agreement separating the estates, none of the fight spilled over to us. There is a similar agreement in place with her current spouse and, I at least, get on pretty well with my step-sibs. (Neither of my brothers has really had any contact with them.) As far as for when our mother dies, we have all already got the major heirlooms that we asked to have plus the majority of the cash. Most remaining items have been stipulated, mainly to the grandchildren and anything left will be sold and cash split 3 ways. If there's anything specific one of us wants, we should be able to come to a reasonable agreement as to it's value and balance it out. So, just saying, you don't have to get along to avoid wasting your inheritance by fighting over it.

The rottenest thing I ever saw was when the oldest sibling that was named executor dragged out the process of selling their mothers home and dividing the other assets for two years until his sister that had terminal cancer and his younger brother that also had serious health issues both passed away.

I have a few friends who never married and are now over 70 years old. I have joked with them that they are the rich elderly aunt/uncle that everyone wished they had. I have no idea what their wills look like.

A relative of mine finally found her FIL's will UNDER THE SILVERWARE HOLDER in the kitchen drawer!! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Some places, if you die without a will or trust, your possessions get divvied up between all the surviving relatives depending on how close they are related. In Pennsylvania, if you die without a will or trust, the state takes everything and the family can go pound salt. Happens all the time here, millions and millions of dollars of windfall profits for the state; just most people don't realize this until it happens to their family. PA also taxes everything you bequeath, like real estate, and the person inheriting has to pay all the same tax as if it was sales tax, depending on how close the relationship. PA has a LOT of money.

A lawyer friend of mine inherrited 100k from her deceased ex-husband. His sister spent 200k to stop her from getting the money. Then she complained that she spent so much money. Did not cost the lawyer friend anything for she represented her self. Shame she wasted so much money, and everyone went with out.

My father passed without a will. Stepmother wanted to sell one of the houses, but needed my signature. I declined and opened probate. Now the court appointed dependent administrator in Probate Court 4 in Houston, Texas refuses to finalize the probate. Today is 4 years post. Both houses were sold. Neither of which were occupied by Dad’s wife or children. I am told that there is nothing that can be done to move this into the final stages.

If its not witnessed, how do you know its not a good forgery ?

The tater tots fighting over the couch potato will.

"Aside rom the practical problems of thinking about it after you die." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

It surprises me that a last will would not need either witnessing or registering. Here, for a last will to be legally upheld, it requires two witnesses signing off that the person actually were the signatory, was of sound mind at the time, and was not under duress at the time.

“Hand written wills are legal in many states”…. WTF? Which states have gone out of their way to specifically invalidate the only method in which wills could have possibly written until the advent of typewriters? Prior to 1878 (the first typewriter) ALL wills were “handwritten” - they had to be. And not everyone had a typewriter on day 1. It would have taken decades got all lawyers to obtain one, and not all wills are prepared by lawyers. How can handwritten wills be invalid in any single state at all?

nothing breaks up a family like inheritance...

It was the smiley face that clinched the deal, so remember, handwritten, signed and SMILEY FACE!!!

I learned something new today. NY doesn't allow it. It's only allowed if you are a service member and pen it during a conflict where you are in fear of dying. As soon as you return to civilian life it's invalid. You can still write your own will, but it has a few specific requirements. Boy oh boy .... when I die there is going to be a total melee over all my craft supplies 🤣

I store my important & classified documents in the Garage next to my Corvette.

I've seen first hand how families can ruin a home when someone dies.

My parents had a will that said share and share alike, which we did. One brother who was the executor was angry about all the bills he had to pay, because we wouldn't get as much money.

A friend of mine had an uncle that passed away. His uncle's nephew broke into his uncle's house during the funeral and stole all of his WWII memorabilia. The nephew sold all of it for drugs. His uncle was in the OSS during the war. He was in North Africa attached to a British unit and was captured by the Germans. In his possession at the time was an English copy of Rommel's book Infantry Attack. Since he was an officer he was well treated. While in custody, he was interrogated and one senior officer who questioned him was particularly interested in why he had the book. His uncle didn't think any more about it at the time. Not long after he was freed by Allied forces as the Germans retreated. He got all of his possessions back. While on his way home after the war, he was bored and pulled out the book for something to do. Inside the front cover was the inscription written in German, I guess an author should sign his work, Rommel. My friend was supposed to get the collection of memorabilia in the will. Could you imagine how much that book meant to my friend. Also, think of the historical significance and value.

Ben lying flat on the box of the Turbine car.

What is really sad is that a simple dispute over a will can easily carry a cost of half a million or more ...

From experience, it isn't always awesome to inherit an expensive house. Reason is the current owner has to pay property taxes on the place and it's usually based on current market value. If you are just a medium income family you might not be able to pay the taxes and insurance every year. That's what happened to me.

Families fight over stuff whether there's a will or not. My parents made a will. They named a financial fiduciary with power of attorney. Property was to be sold and split equally among their children. Perfect. Except in my family. My parents each ended up in assisted living. Mom died first. The sister who lived close by managed to get my dad to open a checking account with both their names on it and moved retirement deposits to that account. My brother who lived close by took possession of the parent's leased vehicle for his own personal use. There was a person who was preparing for an estate sale and my brother kept going to the property and stealing everything he wanted from furniture, to household goods, to tools, garden tractor, brush hog. My dad wouldn't call the police on him. The brother filed for guardianship but my other sister brought Dad from MI to FL. I told the Friend of the Court all the crap that my siblings had done and gave them correct contact information for my sister and I. I also gave my sister a good reference to be Dad's caretaker. My sister and Dad rushed to an attorney in Florida to make a new will, change power of attorney and all that stuff. He asked me about it first. I told him that was fine since I trusted her completely. He did much better in my sister's home than in the assisted living facility and she took care of him until he passed. My parents didn't have much but my greedy sister and brother managed to steal way more than their share. And the judge in MI said that it seemed that Dad was in good hands now and also that he couldn't rule because Dad didn't reside in MI anymore. So yeah. My parents were going to leave next to nothing but it was still enough for my greedy siblings to fight over even though my parents had tried to make it cut and dry.

It seems every will should be recorded in the county of residency before death to be valid. And that it should be non-public until death (and opaque to any potential beneficiary). Even if it means a person dies in testate. My gosh, I’ve countless post-it notes and scrap paper scribblings I’ve written over the years, meant only for my own internal narrative, and I’d hate to think any of them could be considered final!

It never ceases to amaze me, the complete and utter arrogance of relatives and others who think they are “entitled” contrary to express intentions of the Testatrix/or to assets of the deceased. In life, absent mental incapacity, a person can spend their money, BUT after death, everyone seems to think they can substitute their “wishes” for the expressed intentions of the owner of the property! This includes Judges who disregard specific testamentary provisions. P.S. hand written Wills, to my mind, are less likely to be forged. In recent times, in my jurisdiction, 2 very, very large Estates were subject to litigation and it eventuated in both instances the Will was forged.

Classic I heard from a former legal secretary. A will said something was to be divided evenly between, "Matthew, Mark, Luke and John" (not their actual names. So, 1/3 went to Matthew, 1/3 to Mark, and 1/3 was split between Luck and John. ...and you thought the Oxford comma was optional? She said the attorneys argued tooth and nail over it and that was the final result.

This one doesn't sound too bad but stories like this always make me grateful that my siblings and I don't hate each other.

A friend of ours father died in Oregon with a will. She still had to have it probated . It cost her $6,000. We put our estate into a trust which also came with a will; cost $1,000. The lawyer that helped us with the trust also helped us trustees on my parents estate (their lawyer died of cancer) at no cost (minor IRS issue). A trust is well worth the money if you own any property in order to keep the lawyers and courts from getting a big chunk (no offense Steve). My parents (dad had dementia) thought about their possessions before they died; the only problem was that my brother thought about it more than anyone else. He would come out from Colorado with an empty car and leave with it full. He brought the car on the pretext that he was working on their house. When we followed the trust/will and went to do the division of property I kept noticing things that were not there (still think about things occasionally, that were/are missing). Think what you may but I have disowned my brother the thief. All the financial stuff my oldest sister and I (trustees) did all the work dividing it between 4 kids and did it down to the penny.