DUers...this is important information!

[moonseller66]

You may have a stock pile of food and other necessities for a while in case things get worse with the Pandemic. And we all hope these things are not needed.

BUT...there is something else EVERYONE should make sure they have.

A current WILL and Power of Attorney. You can't be too careful with your possessions concerning fate whether it happens later or sooner. With the advent of the Virus, without a will, can you afford to take a chance that your family might lose everything you worked and saved for over the years? Not to mention losing a house due to nursing home costs and/or Estate Recovery Costs (in many states they can take your possessions as compensation for provided health care and/or many other things) or other Federal or State Laws you may not be aware of!

Make sure your will is current, signed, notarized and witnessed. Make sure others have copies! That can be very important!
And for goodness sake, if you don't have a will or POA yet, get one made up before it's too late! Do it as soon as possible.

Your Power of Attorney should make sure enough of a succession line of relatives or whomever is enumerated in case you and your spouse (and possibly next of kin, also) should both pass on. Name those you want, but put them all in descending order. This may not be required in some states but it's better to be cautious.

It's something most of us don't want to talk about but it's really necessary to make sure your spouse or children don't get shafted by states or the government.

And don't forget to tell your friends and relatives, too.

It can ease your mind.

[dameatball]

1. I did this about seven years ago. It is also sort of a gift to your loved ones. Makes one less

thing for them to have to worry about during a stressful time. Try to spell out as many details about how you want things handled, so they don't have to guess. They will know you were thinking of them. It is not necessary to have a large estate to make this a worthwhile thing to do.

[hlthe2b]

2. Plan ahead to get a notary signature too. Most of us rely on banks, but right now that is hard...

Most are drive-through only with no lobby service so there is no guarantee there will be a notary available.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. I redid those things about three years ago.

The other thing is that the documents need to be looked at and updated periodically. Especially if someone dies or there's a new addition to the family.

I get furious at people who shrug it off and say, "I don't care what happens. I'll be dead anyway." They need to just once handle the estate of someone. Even a simple estate where there's a will can take surprisingly long to settle.

[doc03]

4. My older brother died a couple years ago he had a copy of his will

at home and a signed one in a safe deposit box giving his estate to our then deceased younger brother. Then out of the blue his deceased girl friend's daughter comes up with an unsigned will giving everything to her. She had an unsigned will and my brother had no copy of it or the
original signed will giving everything to her. She had an attorney testify he made the will and my brother had signed it. The Probate Judge honored her will saying that the will was either lost or destroyed by others. What research I did said that in that case it would normally go to probate unless there was proof the signed will was destroyed in a fire for instance. So my brother's estate was given to
a person that was no blood relative or had never even lived with him. He left $300,000 and a house and two cars that would have
given my younger brother's daughters a nest egg and the one daughter could have paid off her $38000 student loan. So this shows you
you can even make a will and your estate can still be stolen by a crooked lawyer and judge.