Tag Archives: trust

Who’s the owner of a 1958 Corvette convertible?

This story is taken from one published in the Daily Republic.

“A California judge will apparently decide who owns that yellow Corvette in June.

One thing we do know for sure is that 75-year-old George Bristol owned the Corvette, valued at some $97,000, prior to his death in a traffic accident on Dec. 14, 2016.

After that, though, the picture grows murky.

An administrator of the estate, Jared Bristol, says the Corvette is now in the possession of Laura Hazelett, who he claims in his lawsuit was having a relationship with George Bristol before he died late last year in his 2004 Toyota Tacoma, which left the road, went airborne, and crashed into the side of a large drainage canal.

Jared Bristol filed a lawsuit against Hazelett on Wednesday in Fairfield, Calif., claiming that she forged George Bristol’s signature on forms that she filed in January 2017 with the Department of Motor Vehicles saying that George Bristol had given her the car two days before his death.

The lawsuit asks that the DMV not be allowed to transfer ownership of the Corvette to anyone while the estate is in probate.

The Daily Republic reached out to Hazelett for comment on the allegations of the suit but received no response.”

If George Bristol had included his Corvette in his estate planning, this issue would not have arisen. He could have named Hazelett or anyone else as the owner of the valuable car. Whoever was named would have inherited it and there would have been no court fight.

Be sure that you have an estate plan and that it includes any valuable assets you own. That way, you will save your loved ones time, effort and expense…and your wishes will be carried out.

For information about estate planning, go to www.diesmart.com.

Was he really dead?

Sir Jimmy Young, a radio DJ in the UK, died in November 2016 at age 95. He left an estate worth more than 2.7 million pounds and a bizarre last request.

In his will, Jimmy requested that his dead body be given a lethal injection before burial because he had a fear of being buried alive.

It’s not know whether the request was carried out though he was really dead before his interment.

Whether you have a weird request or not, be sure to prepare your will and to include any of your special wishes. If they’re not included, your loved ones may not know about them and may not be able to fulfill those wishes.

For more information about end of life planning, go to www.diesmart.com.

Do you know your spouse’s passwords?

A recent article in the Huffington Post really emphasized why you need to be sure to learn your spouse’s passwords…while he or she is still alive to tell you what they are. The article, titled “I’m Still Paying For My Dead Husband’s Cell Phone Because I Don’t Know His Childhood Friend’s Name”, is printed here in its entirety.

The photo is of the author, Ann Brenoff, and her now deceased husband.

“Make a record of your passwords, folks.

Until I became widowed two months ago, I thought death was a finality. After it happened, I would have the time and space to mourn. I’ve since learned that death is actually followed by a long web of subscriptions, billing services and other minutia ? along with a series of arguments with customer service professionals reading from scripts.

Unraveling my husband’s life has been a complicated problem, primarily for one reason: His passwords were not in his “important papers” file.

As a result, my access to his personal accounts is limited, and depending on the company with which I’m dealing, the malarky of what passes for customer service is off the charts.

Take for example his cell phone carrier, a global company with 40,000 employees, none of whom apparently work on weekends. They won’t stop billing me for his phone service because I can’t get into his account to cancel it. I don’t know his password.

And I can’t override the password with his account’s security question ? the first name of his first childhood friend. Vic was 81 when he died ? I feel safe suspecting that he probably wouldn’t have remembered this name either.

Recently, a customer service rep offered me this option: Drive to a company store to “authenticate” my husband’s account, bring his driver’s license, Social Security number, death certificate and our marriage license. For real. Oh, and then call him back because I clearly must have plenty of time on my hands. Mind you, they are still billing my credit card while giving me the run-around.

Death certificates are the key to the universe.

The root of dealing with all post-death matters is having a copy of a certified death certificate. You can do nothing without one. The best advice anyone gave me was to order multiple copies because everyone, including the gas company, wants one.

Getting a death certificate, at least in Los Angeles, is best accomplished by rising before dawn, taking a day off work and going in person with plenty of quarters for the parking meter. And don’t forget to bring your own pen; things are a little tight at our government offices these days.

Once armed with copies of my husband’s death certificate, I set out to move all his accounts into my name and square away the mountain of paperwork that comes with the end of life. And while it’s certainly been a journey of discovery ? we’ve been spending how much on premium cable so he could watch Cubs games from Los Angeles? ? it has pitted me against more than one instance of corporate absurdity.

Customer service is a contradiction of terms.

Take for example the bank that wouldn’t switch our account notifications to my email from his. We have banked with them for decades and all our accounts are jointly held with survivor rights. Even worse, the bank has his cell phone number on file ? yes, the one I hope to get rid of.

The cable company, usually the boogeyman of the utility companies we deal with, turned out to be not-so-bad. I just had to threaten to not pay them if they didn’t switch the name on the account. Ditto for the propane company.

Credit cards are generally pretty happy to remove names. The mail-order pharmacy, not so much, especially when automatic refills are involved. Eventually, every automatic refill will outlive its subscriber and medications aren’t returnable. Who wins in this scenario?

Car insurance, his driver’s license, his Social Security and Medicare, his magazine subscriptions and his airline miles ? flash that death certificate and you are good to go.

But the ability to cancel his cell phone service? That one remains elusive.

Widowhood is not for the weak. One minute, you’re fine and the next you’re a raving lunatic. You curse your dead spouse when you have a flat tire, when you just don’t have the energy to drive your kid to the school bus stop and no one else is around to help. It can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you just want one thing ? just one ? to be easy. Like, you know, canceling a cell phone plan.”

For information about end of life planning, check out our website www.diesmart.com.

Can it happen here?

A recent story from the United Kingdom talked about the rise of family feuds related to inheritance. The number of cases – 116 – reaching the High Court in 2015 broke all past records.

According to a British law firm, the rise in cases is due to the “intricacies of modern family life and rising property prices.” This increased complexity means that there is a larger pool of potential claimants for every estate. There is a big risk that someone will feel left out and bring a claim.

In addition, people living together outside of marriage may be left out in the cold if their significant other dies without a will. The estate will most likely go to their blood relatives, not to their partner. A claim might be the only way to possibly address this issue.

Furthermore, people may marry more than once and if there are children or stepchildren involved, there’s a good chance that someone will feel wronged. A spouse may intend for their own blood children to inherit their assets, but they die first and, eventually, everything goes to surviving spouse’s children. The blood children of the first to go spouse get nothing.

One famous British case involved an estranged daughter who successfully battled her mother’s decision to leave money to animal charities. In the end, she received about one third of her mother’s estate.

Can this type of inheritance feud happen in the United States? Absolutely. If you don’t want it to happen to you or your loved ones, make sure you have a will and have clearly, legally documented your wishes while you’re still alive to do so.

For more information about planning for the end of your life, check out our website www.diesmart.com.

Have you done your end of life planning yet?

It’s something no one wants to think about, much less actually do. However, it’s critical that you make a plan so that your wishes can be carried out.

Do you care about whether the doctor takes heroic measures? Do you want to be kept on life support? Do you want to receive treatment if there’s no chance of you resuming a normal life? Equally as important, who do you want to have the authority to make these kinds of decisions for you if you aren’t able to do so yourself?

Last year, a change was made to Medicare so it will pay your doctor to take the time to talk with you about these important considerations. You should ask your physician to discuss some of the issues and to help you towards decisions. Don’t wait until you’re in the ER and in the middle of a healthcare crisis. Make your decisions now, put them in writing thru a healthcare directive or healthcare power of attorney and be prepared.

For more information about end of life planning, go to our website www.diesmart.com.