2007-02-16
your feedback is requested
|Today I'd like to talk about my parents' will and their final wishes. I'm throwing this out to get some feedback from you fine folks. I know what I think about it (and I'll give you my opinion next time) but I'm curious to know what people outside of our family might think.
As you may know I am the last of six, both of my parents and all of my siblings are still alive. My sister closest in age to me (child #5, also known as Kate) and I are the executors of the will. My father is 80 and my mother is 79. They're in pretty good health, however, my mom has moderate Alzheimer's which is getting progressively worse.
There are basic requests in the will like: don't put us in a nursing home no matter what! use all of the money available to make sure that we don't end up in a nursing home and sell the cars if you must to keep us out of a nursing home. Do you get the idea that they don't want to live in a nursing home?
I shouldn't make fun of that. I wouldn't want to live in a nursing home either.
Anyway, there are basic instructions, and when I say basic I mean basic. Don't put us in a nursing home, pay off all of our bills and split the money six ways. There are no specific bequeaths. Doesn't a mother usually request that her wedding ring go to the oldest daughter and the father requests that his wedding band go to the oldest son, etc. I mean don't parents usually pick one item to go to each of their children, kind of as a remembrance?
Here's how my parents decided to handle that aspect. I swear on a stack of bibles this is written in their last will and testament. In regard to the household items, if more than one child wants a particular item we request that our children roll dice with the highest number rolled deciding who receives the item.
So let me paint a picture, lest you misunderstand what I am describing.
It's late fall, my mother has been dead a year and my dad just kicked off. We've buried him and now it's time to get the affairs in order. We are supposed to have all of the siblings assemble at the house. Obviously we have to get rid of all of the furniture, clothes, knick knacks, etc., so we can sell the house and split the proceeds six ways.
This is when we are supposed to ask "Does anyone want this 50-inch television?" Let's just say Caroline and Claire both say, "Yes, I want that TV."
This is when we are supposed to produce a set of dice and let the high roller win. Potentially a sibling could be on a lucky streak and could roll the high number every time he or she was challenged.
Would that be fair? I suppose destiny or fate will be the deciding factor.
Anyway, we have to go through all of the items to see if anyone wants them. If more than one person wants it, we have to roll for it and then label it so the winner gets all of their stuff.
Then we will be able to dispose of the rest of the stuff and sell the house.
Someone else out there must have gone through the death of a parent before. Is this normal? What do you think of rolling dice for memories? Do tell.
2007-02-16 at 7:38 p.m.
