Legal Will

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inreb said:
@ crankcall was hoping you'd chime in. Should be streamlined, basically giving the whole lot to one brother and he can liquidate and spread around as he chooses altho I would "suggest" he does it equal among all sibs, sorry Joe.
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It was worth a shot. ?
inreb said:
I just want to keep the instructions/demands as simple as possible including the amount of time to do it in. Including keeping the document simple and open ended. Basically just building a wall against outsiders. The family will resolve the issue as they see fit. Hope that makes sense.
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I would suggest against this. Many a family has been broken with a vague will. Brother vs brother, mother vs child...it can get incestually (is that a word?) complicated and ugly.
Like noted above, state that brother x is executer of will and all assets are to be distributed equally (at minimum), but I would still prefer a will with exclusive direction and no room for "interpretation".

Iirc you are the runt of the litter.....so getting one of those prized two-wheelers may not be so far-fetched an aspiration.

Sent from the Purple Zone
 
The whole point of a will is to state your intentions very specifically. NO guess work. Giving it all to one person and expecting them to spread it out is nice, but reality bites. Almost like half a will really. They would be under pressure from other who think differently then them or you. As an executor, they are just doing as you wish and if someone wants to b!tch, yer gone.
 
OK, you guys win but with one small caveat; I do believe our family may be the anomaly, at least according to how things rolled out when pa up and died. I guess that's why I'm thinking this way. Ima gunna fire email to bro.
 
I just did my will with a lawyer. He did it for free as a perk when I gave him my real estate closing.

He basically said to be as specific as possible and cover all contingencies. Also, he suggested your trustee should be someone trust able. We didn't get too much into safeguards to make sure trustee does their job right. I left everything to a certain family member and made them a trustee, but he did there are quite a few safeguards you can do.

It all comes down to how much you have. If it's a lot then you need a proper lawyer to do your will. If you are a small guy like me then you can handwrite it yourself.
 
I'm small fry. A million isn't what used to be.
 
As others have said, if you have wishes to be met, put it in the note. Take X and equal split Y ways.
If a sibling named in the will pre deceases you, does thier share go to thier children? The language is important.

No matter how historically the family has gotten on well, don't assume it will always go that way. Money does funny things to people sometimes and it doesn't have to be a lot.

The executor gets to "bill" the estate for every fee associated with their duties. Watched brother bill for mileage driving to lawyer, funeral home, 340kms to the final cemetery to 'check' the plot, lunch on the way, a massage for stress. It was a lot of money, dont think 'sense of duty' applies to everybody.

These are real examples from people I'm close to

1. Dad has a house, gives son #1 the house to live in and moves into apt attached to daughters house. Son #1 rents the house from Dad for 26yrs on the understanding when Dad goes, he will get the house. Dad goes and mysteriously his sister cant find a will anywhere in dads apt. Son #1 has to buy out his sister and brother to keep the house, gets first mortgage at 54 having rented and done thousands of upgrades including an addition thinking he was getting it in the end. Lesson, know where the will is.

2. Family has 3 kids and a 260acre farm worth 4 million or so. Mom and Pop have some savings and investments, but not 4mil. The 'understanding' was everything would go three ways, 3 kids. Years go on and 2 kids move to the city for jobs and one son stays around and farms. The farms become modern and it becomes a Farms Ltd. Mom Dad and farm Son are shareholders, kid 2-3 are not named shareholders, Mom and Pop always assumed when they expired farm son would do the right thing for his brother and sister. SURPRISE! he was the lone shareholder, the corporate papers left it in his control, sorry bro and sis, and he then took a third of the investment and savings money from the estate. They dont talk much these days. Lesson, if you want it to happen, put it in writing

Tax implications are not that bad, its just a percentage and it was money you didn't have before somebody died so.......

Its very simple to spell out xyz gets abc and then there is no doubt. Making it easy for survivors is a gracious thing to do.
 
Come to think of it a friend got into a mess with sister, first when the dad died and again when the mother died. Of course I only heard his side of the story and it was more the bro-in-laws doing than the sister but why was she such a materialistic ***** all of a sudden? Point taken.
 
inreb said:
I just want to keep the instructions/demands as simple as possible including the amount of time to do it in. Including keeping the document simple and open ended. Basically just building a wall against outsiders. The family will resolve the issue as they see fit. Hope that makes sense.
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No, sounds like a recipe for disaster.
You are putting that brother in a very bad spot and likely cause him grief (not your intent).

Lay it out that the lawyer or Exec...where you state how things are split.

people get funny when it comes to money
 
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-D- said:
No, sounds like a recipe for disaster people get funny when it comes to money.
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Advice like a good coffee. Teeming with enthusiasm, tempered only by culture:coffee2:
 
crankcall said:
As others have said, if you have wishes to be met, put it in the note. Take X and equal split Y ways.
If a sibling named in the will pre deceases you, does thier share go to thier children? The language is important.

No matter how historically the family has gotten on well, don't assume it will always go that way. Money does funny things to people sometimes and it doesn't have to be a lot.

The executor gets to "bill" the estate for every fee associated with their duties. Watched brother bill for mileage driving to lawyer, funeral home, 340kms to the final cemetery to 'check' the plot, lunch on the way, a massage for stress. It was a lot of money, dont think 'sense of duty' applies to everybody.

These are real examples from people I'm close to

1. Dad has a house, gives son #1 the house to live in and moves into apt attached to daughters house. Son #1 rents the house from Dad for 26yrs on the understanding when Dad goes, he will get the house. Dad goes and mysteriously his sister cant find a will anywhere in dads apt. Son #1 has to buy out his sister and brother to keep the house, gets first mortgage at 54 having rented and done thousands of upgrades including an addition thinking he was getting it in the end. Lesson, know where the will is.

2. Family has 3 kids and a 260acre farm worth 4 million or so. Mom and Pop have some savings and investments, but not 4mil. The 'understanding' was everything would go three ways, 3 kids. Years go on and 2 kids move to the city for jobs and one son stays around and farms. The farms become modern and it becomes a Farms Ltd. Mom Dad and farm Son are shareholders, kid 2-3 are not named shareholders, Mom and Pop always assumed when they expired farm son would do the right thing for his brother and sister. SURPRISE! he was the lone shareholder, the corporate papers left it in his control, sorry bro and sis, and he then took a third of the investment and savings money from the estate. They dont talk much these days. Lesson, if you want it to happen, put it in writing

Tax implications are not that bad, its just a percentage and it was money you didn't have before somebody died so.......

Its very simple to spell out xyz gets abc and then there is no doubt. Making it easy for survivors is a gracious thing to do.
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Good catch on the follow the children bit. I believe the term is "Follow the seed or issue".

Watch for cash that goes to the estate instead of directly to the heirs, TFSA's, RRSP's insurance etc. What is subject to financing Auntie Kathy's pension.

Make sure the executor knows the market. A buddy and his brother inherited the family home after his sister died but her executor lived in no man's land and and sold the place off cheap because she thought she had a sucker overpaying. The "Sucker" flipped it in a month for a $300K profit.

Another buddy has a collection of vintage car parts that his wife would send to the dump. Properly disposed of they would raise $50K.
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