Estate Planning as a Career

Just a little over one year ago, my 84 year old mother died after a short illness. She had had a will drawn up a few years before her death. She owned houses and property in Napa, California, property on which I grew up. She took the extra step in the months before her passing of putting everything in a family trust that would be easier for me to manage when she was gone. My older brother had preceded her in death by about 8 months. It was all up to me.

When it became apparent that she was not coming home after emergency surgery, I began to familiarize myself with all the necessary documents. Her will became part of the trust documents, as did her Do-Not-Resuscitate order (her DNR.) The trust was funded by the deed to her property and several medium size bank accounts. When she passed, I contacted her attorney, who acted as custodian of the documents. She now became my attorney. The law says that nothing can happen for 41 days until after the death of the trustee. During that time, I became the trustee and held that title until everything was settled.

Though there was not a lot beyond the property. I carefully, and legally distributed it in the manner she had selected. The granddaughter got the proceeds from stock in a utility company, as well as half of a joint account, that she shared with her mother. The property and the remaining accounts went to me. She had pre-paid many of her funeral expenses, though there was just a little to be paid, which was no problem. In mid-September, the 41 days had passed and all of her belongings passed to me.

Everything was left up to me at that point. I donated her clothing to an organization in town that gave clothing to those in need. Most of her books went to the county library sale, which was ironic since many of them had come from the same library sale over the years. My fiancee and I made se (more…)