OT: Have You Written A Will?

[Ash]

Ya know, the original title I had written for this thread was, "Do You Have A Will?" but after looking at it and pondering for a minute or two I came to realize the possible double meaning it contains and then changed it accordingly.

I did a bit of searching through my old threads here and remembered the one titled, "Do You Fear Death?".

I do not think of my eventual death constantly.
When I do, I imagine my family gaining access to my vacant apartment sometime after my demise and having to go through my things which lay unused without me to use them.
They are forced to decide to keep what is worth keeping and what should be thrown away.

I often think of them throwing things away that, if I were alive I would scream at them, "No don't throw that away, I wanted you to have that!".

From reading that you may have guessed that I have NOT made out a "Last Will & Testament"

You were correct.
I haven't.

It is something that every now & then shoves itself into my mind but is always quickly brushed aside with the thoughts of whatever I'm focused on at the current moment.

Have you made a will?
If not, have you thought of making a will and what kinds of things would you include in it if you did or already have?

If you haven't made one...do thoughts of making one occasionally haunt you?



Post Edited (05-05-04 22:30)

[Brian Ringler]

Being only 23 I've never really thought about having a will, even though I woke up one morning in the hospital after almost freezing to death this past winter.  I really don't have that many possessions to pass on.  Basically it'd boil down to about 400-500 dvds and 400-500 various video games from the early 80's to now.  It'd probably be my wife's greatest joy to be rid of my dvds and video games after I die and who am I to take that joy away from her.  My wife can do what she wants with myt stuff when I'm gone.

[Ash]

Another thing I just noticed...

From reading my original post one might possibly come to the conclusion that I was considering suicide or something.
At a second closer glance it does indeed resemble a cry for help.

Hell no!!!

I just had to get that out of the way...

The idea to write this thread was just a random thing that passed on through you know where.
To my knowledge no one has ever asked it before so I siezed the opportunity.

No!!
I have no desire to do myself in.
I'm doin' just fine!



Post Edited (05-04-04 05:52)

[AndyC]

Well Ash, I was beginning to wonder, what with posts about death, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, and now wills, whether you might benefit from a good serotonin reuptake inhibitor.

Seriously, my wife and I have been meaning to write wills for over a year now, but we're just so busy with everything else, and we don't really have the money for the lawyer right now. We really should take care of it. Personally, I hate to even think about needing one. It's like finding grey hairs in my beard - an unpleasant reminder.

[George]

I, foolishly, don't have a will yet.  As I am married and have children I do have intentions to make one just to insure that my children are taken care of in the event of the demise of both my wife and myself.

If you don't want to make out a formal will, why not use the "poor man's patent" method.

Write a letter, with date, listing the way you would like your Earthly goods distributed.  Make copies of the letter and put them in envelopes with a piece of dated material, such as the corner of the newspaper.  Mail one to yourself, one to your parents and one to a trusted friend.  By mailing it, you confirm the inside date.  Tell each person you mail it to what you are doing and have them put it in a safe spot and, above all, do not open the letter until you are worm food.

Upon your demise, and an acceptable greiving period, the letters can be opened in the presence of a witness and the feeding frenzy can begin.

I doubt this is a legally binding document but it will at least give a clear expression of your wishes.

[BeyondTheGrave]

iam not that old to write a will (only 19) but since iam a police cadet for NYPD makeing my way to a PO and wanting to join the marines it been in the back of my mind to do so.

"Dont be a fool for ur tool"

[The Burgomaster]

Nope.  I shall never die.

[trekgeezer]

About 16 years ago I had a bout with cancer so my wife and I had one done. Because our kids were only 4 and 5 at the time we were mainly concerned that they had someone to raise them if something happened to us.

I would say this is something you should do before being pressured by an illness or  before a tragedy should strike, especially if kids are involved.

[smengie]

Can I have your dvds when you die?

[AndyC]

The Burgomaster wrote:

> Nope.  I shall never die.
>

"Chromium Picolinate, every oriface, every day" - Dale Gribble

[jmc]

My wife and I don't have children, so neither of us have made one.  We probably  will if we ever have children or after we reach a certain age.

[ulthar]

I wrote a will a few years ago right before I embarked on a late winter climb of Mt. Rainier.  I did not have much of anything of value, so it was more symbolic than anything else.

Now of more concern for my wife and I is to get a 'Living Will' done.  We don't have a will (for our daughter) yet, but we talk about it often enough that we really should do it.

A few years ago, my sister mentioned to me that the BEST way to protect your assets for your children is not a Will, but to put everything into a trust, now, while you are alive.  Neither she nor I are lawyers, so take this with a grain of salt, but here's the theory.  With a Will, your heirs will have to pay 'death tax' on what you leave them; with a trust, it's already their, you have already paid the taxes, so when you go, nothing really changes financially.  It's an interesting thought, and when my wife and I got our first bank account together, we set it up as a trust for just that reason.

[Andrew]

Yes, though it is probably time that I updated it a little.  Have to do that every few years and last time was about 3 years ago.