Drawing a written Will or a legal document indicating who gets this or that is not normally practiced in our locality or my family. My grandparents (both sides) distributed their properties to their children while they were alive. Likewise, we have been given our share of our parents' assets sometime in the mid-2000s. My Dad gathered my siblings one day (I was abroad at that time), discussed the matter, and then passed on to them the legal documents (property titles and such). I have mine too, of course (it's not because I wasn't there that I'd be excluded).
So yes, we had our slices of the pie and they should be under our names by now but we kept postponing the processing of papers.
Anyways, the remaining properties not included in the distribution (family residence, monies, vehicle, a few lands, etc) are still at our parents' disposal and were not promised to any of us. But we do know from observation in the locality that the family home usually goes to the lastborn when both parents pass on (unless it's named to a certain person). Cash and other liquid assets are often used during the wake (at least 5 days) and interment, the costs of which are quite extravagant (some families have to sell properties to cover the expenses).
Joan's question this week got me seriously considering what I had jokingly asked my sister sometime last year when we had a conversation about health, death, and such. Without any children, to whom are we going to Will our assets? She has an answer - whoever takes good care of me and the Farmboy when we are old and weary.
Aha! That makes sense, yeah? LOL!
This reminded me of a time when an aunt passed away. Her children from her first marriage (she remarried after my uncle died) wanted to clear the matters regarding their original family's properties so they called for a meeting and I was there. The discussion turned ugly at some point so local officials had to intervene. Properties or riches can certainly cause rifts among family members. People's attitudes can change in an instant.
That, and other stories of family feuds regarding estates show that a written will is important because we want to save our relatives the headache when the time comes. My parents have done their part and it's time for us to do ours. One day soon, we will have to sit down and account for our worldly possessions (which are not substantial but growing) and start thinking about who to assign them to.
Until then, happy weekend!
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