I have a Will, but I might die intestate

David born 1950

David born 1950

New Member
Hello, I am brand new here. I am hoping that my important (to me) post will neither be edited nor removed. We shall see.

I am 73, have an estate worth several hundred thousand (savings, coins; no real estate or car) but have a fear that will not subside. I have NO family (that I can communicate with), NO friends (gained mistrust from childhood peers who hated queers), NO sense of trust for anyone. (I developed in life with an introverted personality, re-making myself into my best friend.) I do not know what to do concerning my dilemma with my Will.

I wrote my Will myself, and attached it to a PA self-proving affidavit, which was notarized and signed by two witnesses (at a bank). I showed the combination at a legal clinic and was told that the Will is entirely valid. (But where there is a Will, there is not necessarily a Way.)

Yes, I might die intestate. I stated that I wanted to leave everything to Doctors without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres). But ... while I am of sound mind, I simply cannot allow access, even to a reputable lawyer, to my bank accounts or safe deposit boxes by giving keys and preliminary withdrawal authorization. The fiduciary principle means less to me than it should ... I simply see someone other than myself on my accounts. Are there others who have as profound a fear about this?

I have looked into the living trust alternative to probate: I fear that the designated trustee will not be monitored by any court (at least that is what NOLO.COM says). An executor of a Will is readily monitored, but such executor needs asset access well before the court proceeds; in other words, while I am still living and of sound mind, not after I become mentally incapacitated. Ideally, I would want such access solely after I am in a coma for at least a month (then let me die) or, immediately, if I am dead. Otherwise, I would not be able to sleep if I knew that such 'fiduciary' had such preliminary access, no matter how stellar the reputation. (Asking me to “get over it” is futile.)

Am I so far-fetched with my thinking? Let's face facts: Today, police, our inferred protectors, can readily seize a person's money through the "in rem" civil asset procedure (which has been confirmed as legitimate by the Supreme Court, despite the fact that it emanates from 17th Century British Admiralty Law). In fact, the FBI has stated that more people lose money through this program than they do through burglaries.

The overwhelming majority of such victims are wholly innocent. Even with the few states which have abandoned this theft through ethical concerns, those police are still able to share such forfeitures by making the seizure 'federal'. If that does not say something nefarious about our right to be free from unlawful seizures, then the gentle reader needs to examine his/her sense of just how much the US Constitution has devolved into mere wordplay.

My fear is real, my conclusions are sounder than most wish to believe, and ... yet, for all my thinking about this, I am saddened by my incapacity to develop an alternative which, to me, makes a more profound sense of common sense. Thoughts? - David
 

David, I hope someone will be able to answer your concerns and give advice, but in the meantime, you may want to edit out the details of the worth of your estate. It's not a good idea to put things like that out there "for all to see" or you could end up the victim of a scam... yes, even from a forum. That's all I'll say... call it gut intuition.
 
CallMeKate: I thank you for your insight and concern (hard to find people who give a damn today) but I hardly think that a few hundred thousand is cause for alarm. What if, instead, I owned a small home? How would I 'hide' that fact? Again, I do appreciate your caring. - David
 

David born 1950 said:
I thank you for your insight and concern (hard to find people who give a damn today) but I hardly think that a few hundred thousand is cause for alarm. What if I owned a small home? How would I 'hide' that fact? Again, I do appreciate your caring. - David
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There are people who go trolling sites like this for posts such as this. I really don't want to say more of what I've seen and heard. Your choice and good luck.
 
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My experience when my mother died was that any account that had a Transfer on Death beneficiary was handled very efficiently (turned over to my brother & I immediately). The basis date on the stock I got is the date of her death.

If you want your estate to go to Doctor's Without Borders you could list them as the beneficiary on your accounts. I've read that account beneficiaries take precedence over stipulations in a will.

Whatever firm holds your money/investments should be able to help you set up beneficiaries. On my accounts at Fidelity I can do it myself and I can put percentages. I got the necessary beneficiary info from the charity websites for the charities I've designated. I've also set my regular bank account to have a transfer on death, this method gives absolutely no power to the beneficiary before my death.

Here is the info I see on the Doctors Without Borders website, you can get in contact with them ahead of time if you desire.

Legacy giving

charity legacy planning.jpg
 
Knight said:
Not knowing when or how death will happen. My thought is why fear what you can't know once you die. And rather than accumulating money to fear it won't be distributed as you wish, why not donate a portion now?
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Why? Because I am too selfish to do that. It distills into such a scenario, Knight. I am so afraid of how the world and society are going that sometimes I really and truly wish that I had never been born. I know, I know, I know that if you have no assets, you are treated like garbage out there. Old people get treated like crap in so many nursing homes. I know from experience from my father's experience.

I really HATE to say this but my best friend in life has, consistently, been my bank account. That is a truly disgusting thing to say, but if I denied that, I would be lying. Nevertheless, your insight has been appreciated. - David
 
HoneyNut said:
My experience when my mother died was that any account that had a Transfer on Death beneficiary was handled very efficiently (turned over to my brother & I immediately). The basis date on the stock I got is the date of her death.

If you want your estate to go to Doctor's Without Borders you could list them as the beneficiary on your accounts. I've read that account beneficiaries take precedence over stipulations in a will.

Whatever firm holds your money/investments should be able to help you set up beneficiaries. On my accounts at Fidelity I can do it myself and I can put percentages. I got the necessary beneficiary info from the charity websites for the charities I've designated. I've also set my regular bank account to have a transfer on death, this method gives absolutely no power to the beneficiary before my death.

Here is the info I see on the Doctors Without Borders website, you can get in contact with them ahead of time if you desire.

Legacy giving

View attachment 311186
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HoneyNut: MOST banks do NOT ALLOW CHARITIES TO BE BENEFICIARIES. Yes this would solve the problem. Partially, because even if they DID accept beneficiaries, when you die, the money stays in the bank until someone with authority and death certificate comes to the bank. But MOST BANKS do NOT ALLOW beneficiaries to be charities. I know from attempting. - David
 
Please note: Even if I find a bank which accepts charities (I have one already) the necessity to chase interests rates today, nullifies that advantage. I must go where I get the highest rate, up to 5% today. - David
 
If you have no major material assets such as home, car, real estate, etc., and no family or friends you are concerned about then simply declare beneficiaries or charities on your financial accounts. You don't need a will to do that, but someone will need to contact those financial institutions after your death and provide a death certificate before funds are distributed.

You can select a lawyer, an acquaintance or even a neighbor, but preferably select and inform someone prior to death. Leave an envelope in plain site that has "When I Die" written on it, inside have name and number of who to contact and a list of your financial institutions.
 
C50 said:
If you have no major material assets such as home, car, real estate, etc., and no family or friends you are concerned about then simply declare beneficiaries or charities on your financial accounts. You don't need a will to do that, but someone will need to contact those financial institutions after your death and provide a death certificate before funds are distributed.

You can select a lawyer, an acquaintance or even a neighbor, but preferably select and inform someone prior to death. Leave an envelope in plain site that has "When I Die" written on it, inside have name and number of who to contact and a list of your financial institutions.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but, again, most financial institutions do NOT take charities as beneficiaries. A few do, but most deny such beneficiaries. - David
 
David born 1950 said:
Hello, I am brand new here. I am hoping that my important (to me) post will neither be edited nor removed. We shall see.

I am 73, have an estate worth several hundred thousand (savings, coins; no real estate or car) but have a fear that will not subside. I have NO family (that I can communicate with), NO friends (gained mistrust from childhood peers who hated queers), NO sense of trust for anyone. (I developed in life with an introverted personality, re-making myself into my best friend.) I do not know what to do concerning my dilemma with my Will.

I wrote my Will myself, and attached it to a PA self-proving affidavit, which was notarized and signed by two witnesses (at a bank). I showed the combination at a legal clinic and was told that the Will is entirely valid. (But where there is a Will, there is not necessarily a Way.)

Yes, I might die intestate. I stated that I wanted to leave everything to Doctors without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres). But ... while I am of sound mind, I simply cannot allow access, even to a reputable lawyer, to my bank accounts or safe deposit boxes by giving keys and preliminary withdrawal authorization. The fiduciary principle means less to me than it should ... I simply see someone other than myself on my accounts. Are there others who have as profound a fear about this?

I have looked into the living trust alternative to probate: I fear that the designated trustee will not be monitored by any court (at least that is what NOLO.COM says). An executor of a Will is readily monitored, but such executor needs asset access well before the court proceeds; in other words, while I am still living and of sound mind, not after I become mentally incapacitated. Ideally, I would want such access solely after I am in a coma for at least a month (then let me die) or, immediately, if I am dead. Otherwise, I would not be able to sleep if I knew that such 'fiduciary' had such preliminary access, no matter how stellar the reputation. (Asking me to “get over it” is futile.)

Am I so far-fetched with my thinking? Let's face facts: Today, police, our inferred protectors, can readily seize a person's money through the "in rem" civil asset procedure (which has been confirmed as legitimate by the Supreme Court, despite the fact that it emanates from 17th Century British Admiralty Law). In fact, the FBI has stated that more people lose money through this program than they do through burglaries.

The overwhelming majority of such victims are wholly innocent. Even with the few states which have abandoned this theft through ethical concerns, those police are still able to share such forfeitures by making the seizure 'federal'. If that does not say something nefarious about our right to be free from unlawful seizures, then the gentle reader needs to examine his/her sense of just how much the US Constitution has devolved into mere wordplay.

My fear is real, my conclusions are sounder than most wish to believe, and ... yet, for all my thinking about this, I am saddened by my incapacity to develop an alternative which, to me, makes a more profound sense of common sense. Thoughts? - David
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Your post wasn’t removed at the other forum you posted the same question as above but you sure disappeared quickly because your profile says “went traveling “ which means quit or banned.
 
oldaunt said:
I own property and a small savings account, and I really do not give a tinker's toilet what happens to it when I'm gone. I won't be needing it any more. My brother will take the pets I have left, if any, and that's good enough. People sweat the material things far too much.
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It would be a shame for my rather small money NOT to go towards alleviating less fortunate people's suffering. That is how I think of it. I certainly am not unselfish (I will not need the money after I die) but it is still good what I am doing. - David
 
Teacher Terry said:
Your post wasn’t removed at the other forum you posted the same question as above but you sure disappeared quickly because your profile says “went traveling “ which means quit or banned.
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I left. I could not get a post in without the moderators editing it. (The civil asset forfeiture part was edited out.) Maybe they said that I went traveling because they could not face their own rules with a straight face. So be it. I do not know what pressures they are under. Today, even calling one the 'wrong' pronoun can be a legal offence. Even if you refuse to call a singular person "they" can result in legal (if not lethal) punishment. If you cannot, at your age, see the delicacy of such idiocy, you might need to pay more attention.

I am here (and still queer). - David
 
David born 1950 said:
It would be a shame for my rather small money NOT to go towards alleviating less fortunate people's suffering. That is how I think of it. I certainly am not unselfish (I will not need the money after I die) but it is still good what I am doing. - David
Click to expand...
If it bothers you that much, then endow the charity before you die. Or just write them a check.
 
oldaunt said:
I own property and a small savings account, and I really do not give a tinker's toilet what happens to it when I'm gone. I won't be needing it any more. My brother will take the pets I have left, if any, and that's good enough. People sweat the material things far too much.
Click to expand...
I'm with you on this. I understand people wanting their money to go where they want it, but I hope to never get so paranoid about what happens to my money when I'm dead.
 
I am in a similar situation, David. I've divided my estate between several charities.
And don't set a specific amount because you don't know exactly how much you'll be leaving, set it as a proportion. (e.g. 10% to SPCA, 10% to the local animal shelter, 10% to WWF, etc.).
 
Dan, you said you have an estate worth several $100,000. We are a bunch of geezers, few of us know anything about "civil asset forfeiture", etc. Why aren't you spending some of your assets to get real legal advice from a qualified attorney? Or a couple of them? What little I know about wills is that they have to be precisely written in legalese. And about heirs, if your estate is large enough, they will find you. There's a whole industry designed to find unknown heirs-for a price. You know what you want, so maybe you should get an attorney to do your bidding in setting up a will.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Dan, you said you have an estate worth several $100,000. We are a bunch of geezers, few of us know anything about "civil asset forfeiture", etc. Why aren't you spending some of your assets to get real legal advice from a qualified attorney? Or a couple of them? What little I know about wills is that they have to be precisely written in legalese. And about heirs, if your estate is large enough, they will find you. There's a whole industry designed to find unknown heirs-for a price. You know what you want, so maybe you should get an attorney to do your bidding in setting up a will.
Click to expand...
OP's first post seems to follow a pattern I see a lot on line. Long involved narrative about some unsolvable, tangled problem, and as is the case here, the problem is always self-inflicted (in this case by paranoia and greed). Any advise or suggestion will be dismissed out of hand.

YMMV
 
It's sad that you have lost trust in humanity, but apparently your experiences with those you once thought you could trust, who disappointed your terribly, have tainted your existence. I can't say I blame you for losing trust, but it must be very hard to constantly feel that way such that it paralyzes your decisions about your estate issues.

I also get that your assets are like a security blanket for you. I did like @Knight's idea but you stated your very honest reason for not following that advice. Maybe it's best you don't because what if you wind up in a nursing home one day. You don't want the government (via Medicaid) deciding which one should your assets be depleted. I hope you find a solution that will take this weight off your shoulders!
 
David born 1950 said:
Hello, I am brand new here. I am hoping that my important (to me) post will neither be edited nor removed. We shall see.

I am 73, have an estate worth several hundred thousand (savings, coins; no real estate or car) but have a fear that will not subside. I have NO family (that I can communicate with), NO friends (gained mistrust from childhood peers who hated queers), NO sense of trust for anyone. (I developed in life with an introverted personality, re-making myself into my best friend.) I do not know what to do concerning my dilemma with my Will.

I wrote my Will myself, and attached it to a PA self-proving affidavit, which was notarized and signed by two witnesses (at a bank). I showed the combination at a legal clinic and was told that the Will is entirely valid. (But where there is a Will, there is not necessarily a Way.)

Yes, I might die intestate. I stated that I wanted to leave everything to Doctors without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres). But ... while I am of sound mind, I simply cannot allow access, even to a reputable lawyer, to my bank accounts or safe deposit boxes by giving keys and preliminary withdrawal authorization. The fiduciary principle means less to me than it should ... I simply see someone other than myself on my accounts. Are there others who have as profound a fear about this?

I have looked into the living trust alternative to probate: I fear that the designated trustee will not be monitored by any court (at least that is what NOLO.COM says). An executor of a Will is readily monitored, but such executor needs asset access well before the court proceeds; in other words, while I am still living and of sound mind, not after I become mentally incapacitated. Ideally, I would want such access solely after I am in a coma for at least a month (then let me die) or, immediately, if I am dead. Otherwise, I would not be able to sleep if I knew that such 'fiduciary' had such preliminary access, no matter how stellar the reputation. (Asking me to “get over it” is futile.)

Am I so far-fetched with my thinking? Let's face facts: Today, police, our inferred protectors, can readily seize a person's money through the "in rem" civil asset procedure (which has been confirmed as legitimate by the Supreme Court, despite the fact that it emanates from 17th Century British Admiralty Law). In fact, the FBI has stated that more people lose money through this program than they do through burglaries.

The overwhelming majority of such victims are wholly innocent. Even with the few states which have abandoned this theft through ethical concerns, those police are still able to share such forfeitures by making the seizure 'federal'. If that does not say something nefarious about our right to be free from unlawful seizures, then the gentle reader needs to examine his/her sense of just how much the US Constitution has devolved into mere wordplay.

My fear is real, my conclusions are sounder than most wish to believe, and ... yet, for all my thinking about this, I am saddened by my incapacity to develop an alternative which, to me, makes a more profound sense of common sense. Thoughts? - David
Click to expand...
See a solicitor, most surely worth the fee to get everything exactly as you want, it will bring peace of mind. There is nothing they have not seen before and they are trained to sort the most complex of estates.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
It's sad that you have lost trust in humanity, but apparently your experiences with those you once thought you could trust, who disappointed your terribly, have tainted your existence. I can't say I blame you for losing trust, but it must be very hard to constantly feel that way such that it paralyzes your decisions about your estate issues.

I also get that your assets are like a security blanket for you. I did like @Knight's idea but you stated your very honest reason for not following that advice. Maybe it's best you don't because what if you wind up in a nursing home one day. You don't want the government (via Medicaid) deciding which one should your assets be depleted. I hope you find a solution that will take this weight off your shoulders!
Click to expand...
Somehow, I believe that you have TWO eyes, OneEyedDiva. Why? You have defined me better than others have been able to do. Yes, the security blanket is the ONLY BEST FRIEND I have ever known, my bank account.

You know, I am thinking seriously of committing LEGAL suicide (Canada, Switzerland) if I end up in a nursing home. Not for self-pity reasons, but, rather for simply doing the right thing. There would not be a single human who would ever even know that I was in a home. What sense would there be for me to rot in a nursing home when so many people who are less fortunate (Look, currently, at the Palestinians!) could be helped? I can find none.

Although raised Ukrainian Catholic, long ago I had abandoned religion. Why? From simple common-sense. The ONLY way I ever had learned about "God" or religion was from mortals. And mortals can easily err. I am not an atheist either, because I truly believe atheism also to be a 'religion' (defined by Merriam Webster as "a belief system"). No, I am comfortable with being an agnostic. Essentially, the only thing that I know for certain is that I am ignorant of any 'supreme being' or plural or otherwise.

I really mean that I am totally alone. But, given my totally introverted personality, I am rarely lonely. But, still getting somewhat frightened of, say, if I had to go get a medical procedure where someone would have to bring me home, there would be no one to call (Hospitals do not allow cabs or Uber). So, in my Will, I simply stated the most pragmatic: cremate me and simply discard the ashes. There is nothing more sensible, not reprehensible, but sensible, than that decision. - David
 

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