Wish Jane wasn't alone on her last day
I was recently contacted by extended relatives of Jane. They wanted me to help them to help take care of her estate. She lived alone in a senior apartment and no family in the area. Even though she had a circle of friends she passed away in her apartment and no one realized it for days! Since the apartment manager (eventually) discovered Jane, the Public Administrator's office was called. They came in, ransacked the apartment and took possession of all the valuables. That left an entire apartment of clothes, records, furniture, other belongings, TVs, a computer and other items in a shambles. What's more, Jane had not prepared a Will or Trust or anything else to indicate what her final wishes were, or who she wanted to handle her affairs, nothing!
Jane's body ended in the county morgue for over three months.
Her bank accounts were frozen, her storage unit went unpaid and all her property in it was sold off at auction. It was a mess. I'm sure Jane did not plan to die on that lonely day, or had any idea that was the day! None of us do. Lack of information and time were the biggest enemies of Jane's estate and her unexpressed wishes. Had she at least written something down or otherwise expressed her desires upon passing it would have been so much more meaningful to her friends and family. Lesson learned---Express your final wishes and desires and do your planning now!
What can you do?
If you haven't already addressed this important issue in your estate plan, as the first step you can start by expressing this and other wishes on Wishes4Life . You can start by making your wishes official with following document Nomination of Exeutor and Successors in our resource section as a first step.
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Death | tagged Estate, Express, Life lessons, Probate, Say what you need to say, Wishes, unexpressed, will Permalink Print Article