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Get Your Shit Together

getyourshittogether.org

111–120 of 154 posts

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#111

Living wills and advance directives are a good starting point but they may not be enough. If one is potentially near end-of-life and is serious about DNR-type wishes, it behooves one to get something like a DNR bracelet and/or a POLST document posted on your fridge, so there are no misunderstandings with first responders. There have been a couple NYT articles about this recently. As others have echoed, get the inform…

I've always wondered why this type of information hasn't been attached to a driver's license much like organ donorship is in many states. Seems like a prime system to keep such a thing organized and available.

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#112
post #28

I didn't see this covered under the will section but do talk to important people in your life while you are making your will. Nothing in your will should be a surprise to those that are involved in your estate after you die. If you are leaving a large asset (money, house, investments, a 500 foot yacht in the Bahamas you never told anyone about) then the person getting it should know before hand. If you have kids you…

When we made a will, the person who had advised us to do so said, "And don't put it in a safe-deposit box. It will greatly delay the availability if you die suddenly.

Put one in the bank, too.

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#113
> Making a will is critical for everyone. Not having a will is frankly not an option, you know this.

I keep hearing this, but I don't believe it. No kids, no assets of any significance, and my state's intestacy laws are fine by me for what there is. Of course, I'll revisit when my situation changes but I just can't see why making and maintaining a will needs to be a high priority for me.

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#114
post #30
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a few grammatical errors in these documents as well that do not inspire confidence. Also, you better be damn sure that you can trust the person you give power of attorney to -- the document provided here assigns power of attorney immediately, not on incapacitation/death, and allows the person you designate to gift themselves up to $13,000 a year of your own property without your consent. Considering the law…

> Frankly I don't see why the HN crowd would upvote a site like this -- I'd bet it was ring votes that got it to the front page. Or maybe it was just the snarky domain, who knows. My guess is it struck a chord with people similar to myself - young family and minimal EOL planning. (although the snarky domain definitely helps) For us, the biggest problem has been deciding who should take care of the kids if something h…

My parents made wills that nominated close friends as guardians for us kids. The friends nominated my parents as guardians for their kids. There would have been enough value in either house to cover any extra costs of looking after the orphaned set of kids.

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#116
post #74

I didn't see this covered under the will section but do talk to important people in your life while you are making your will. Nothing in your will should be a surprise to those that are involved in your estate after you die. If you are leaving a large asset (money, house, investments, a 500 foot yacht in the Bahamas you never told anyone about) then the person getting it should know before hand. If you have kids you…

If you are leaving a large asset (money, house, investments, a 500 foot yacht in the Bahamas you never told anyone about) then the person getting it should know before hand. Could you elaborate on why you should tell someone before hand that you're going to leave assets in their name? Is it just common courtesy/manners in your opinion? Or something else? I'm genuinely courageous.

We were strongly advised not to do this. It puts you in a difficult bind if you change your mind later on. Plus there is little value in most beneficiaries knowing beforehand.

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#117
My recommendation to anyone who does not want to leave their loved ones empty-handed is to get life insurance. Depends where you shop, but for about $10/month you can get $100k in life insurance - not a huge amount but probably enough to cover any debts you might have, cover the cost of your funeral, and more. For about $30/month (if you are ~30 years old and relatively healthy), you can get $500k in life insurance. The other good thing about setting this up is that your insurance agency will usually help you get your other items in order like your will, your trust, who will be your guardian(s) if you have children, etc. It might seem premature to get life insurance young, but I have had friends in their 20s and 30s who have died or had near-death experiences.

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#118

I've lately been pondering how to handle the passwords piece of this. I use 1Password, which is convenient because I have a handy-dandy database of passwords, but makes it unrealistic that I'll write them all down on paper. So the problem becomes passing along that database and the master password for it. I also want to avoid giving that to anybody before I'm dead, for obvious reasons. My best plan so far is to put t…

I have a password file encrypted with key that has been split into five shares using Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme [1]. I printed out the shares, instructions, and file URL and hand delivered them to five trusted individuals in different states. Any three of the five can reassemble the key.

[1] http://point-at-infinity.org/ssss/

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#119

I've lately been pondering how to handle the passwords piece of this. I use 1Password, which is convenient because I have a handy-dandy database of passwords, but makes it unrealistic that I'll write them all down on paper. So the problem becomes passing along that database and the master password for it. I also want to avoid giving that to anybody before I'm dead, for obvious reasons. My best plan so far is to put t…

[deleted]

Re: Get Your Shit Together

#120
It is a lot of work being an executor. Even more stressful if someone challenges the will. I was recently involved (as a beneficiary) in an estate where someone challenged the will, and I'm glad the solicitor was the executor and not me!

I know someone who is a beneficiary and an executor of an estate currently nearly £10,000 in debt countering a challenge of a will (as the beneficiary, not the executor, however).

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