Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
There are a few things in life no one wants to talk about.
Of course I am not going to mention what they are here, because they will only depress me and will probably do the same to you. Included in the list, but really shouldn’t be, is one thing that I don’t think is depressing at all. It’s the topic of having a will.
You might think it’s strange that I bring this up and wonder why I’m talking about it at all, but the reason will become obvious after the next sentence. Just the other day, Laura and I met with the attorney to create two wills.
I know, I know…I debated for days about whether or not I was even going to bring this up, but I decided to talk about it tonight because I began recalling all the “will” conversations I have had in the past ten years. I think that just about everyone I spoke to about it said something like, “Oh yeah, I have to do that” or “Ummm, I really need to update mine.” There wasn’t anyone who said, “Yup, all done. Nice and tidy.”
I guess the reason why many people don’t have a will at all is probably the same reason I never went about getting one. As I put it to the lawyer, “This has been sitting on my to-do list for about a year now and I am just getting around to it.” It’s really not one of those “must do” things in life. It’s more of one of the “should do” things. I think a bit of organization here and there is much more appealing than total chaos at the wrong time.
We learned a few things while sitting at that big table earlier this week. We learned about the state laws and what would happen if we didn’t have a will at all. We learned what would happen now that we did. We also learned all about another type of will, called the “living will.”
If you remember the Terri Schiavo case, I am sure you will begin to understand the importance of having a living will. This, in some ways, is more important than a traditional will. Basically, this piece of paper gives the authority to one person to make a very important decision for you. You can click the “living will” link to learn more about it.
There is a really big area that so many people forget to address while making a will (or updating your existing one). It’s funny, because we actually reminded the attorney to update his own. This area has to do with pets.
Laura used to work in the animal industry. She told me that most animals that are put in shelters are put there because someone died and there were no instructions on what to do with the pet once the time for that decision to be made. Many family members aren’t too keen on taking on someone’s cat or dog, so these pets usually end up in the local animal shelter. Really, all it takes is one line in someone’s will to specify a friend or “pet friendly” family member that the pets should go to. It’s not like an order, but more like informing the people who usually read a will later on. “Oh, would you look at that. I had no idea that Daisy down the road wanted those cats.”
So, there you have it. I think I got through that with some definite skill. It’s sort of like navigating a landmine, but I realized that talking about these things can be helpful and a reminder for all of those people who might now say, “Let’s go get it done.”
Related posts
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
It seems that many people aren’t writing in their blogs these days…with me being one of them. As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s just been all sorts of crazy ’round these parts. Honestly, the last thing I have been motivated to do is write. Well, I think my dry spell is over.
One of the reasons I haven’t been writing is because I have been hiding a horrible secret from my mother. See, in the past few months, I have been loudly complaining about the Winter blues. Much like every other Winter of my life, I threaten to move down South. This time, I went as far as to sell the idea to each of my family members…who happen to live down South. You can imagine their overwhelming joy at the thought of having my pretty face much closer to them.
A while back, I began a real estate search in certain cities and towns in Northern Virginia. I was extremely excited and wanted to live on a warm lake in the worst way. I found some good stuff, but after giving it some hard thought, discovered that those areas weren’t for me. As a side note, if you don’t know me, I am famous for changing my mind soon after a forceful decision has been made. It’s part of my charm. I had to break the news to my mother that we weren’t moving down South before I wrote this post. The silver lining of the whole thing is that we will have a nice place up North for her and my father to visit for the Summer.
I am not sure if I ever mentioned that I have been looking for that “perfect town” since I was in college. I think I may have solved the problem. For the longest time, I have been looking at these tiny towns in the middle of nowhere. The problem is, while they sunk some money into their main streets, they were virtually broke because there was no real revenue, besides tourism. I can’t live on tourism alone. Last year, I wanted to live in Woodstock, NY because I thought it was a neat little town. Well, after visiting a few times, the novelty wore off and there was nothing to do. I need some reality in a town. I need indoor tennis and golf courses.
The other day, I had an epiphany. I thought to myself, “Jay, perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places. Perhaps you need the money of a city, but the peace and quiet of a suburb.” Ah, a suburb.
Last week, I started searching realtor.com for some properties around the Hartford, CT area. There are some very nice places around that city. There are some not-so-nice places too, but those are easily avoidable. I zeroed in on two towns…one very nice and busy, the other very nice and not busy. I like to live on the outskirts, but have the real world close by. I found a real estate agent and had her email me some listings for the area. Laura and I picked out three houses that we liked and took a trip on Thursday. The trip has two purposes, one was to see if we liked the area and the other was to see if we liked the houses. This, of course, was after I went to the bank to get pre-approved for another mortgage.
When we arrived, we immediately liked the area. We met the realtor and had her drive us around all day. We took tours of both towns and visited all three houses. The first two were very nice, but just ok. The third one was really nice. I think Laura and I just kept looking at each other thinking that we would get lost in the place. It was really big. It was also on four and a half acres of land.
Needless to say, we liked the third house. It is a very nice Connecticut colonial on a really nice cul de sac. The neighboring houses are all right up my alley. They are new and very, very clean. I did some research and it seems that most of these people live in this town and work in Hartford.
We have been going back and forth with the realtor and the homeowner and may put an offer on the house this weekend. If that doesn’t work out, we will keep looking at existing homes or build a brand new one. There are many options to build new in the area. Since these homes are on a totally different level from what we are currently living in, we have to do this slowly and carefully.
The bad part is that I brought my camera on Thursday, but totally forgot to take any pictures. We may go back out there on Monday, so I will be sure to take some photos.
Related posts
