I know I am staring down the barrel of a gun right now. Dad is 88 and has procrastinated til the bitter end. He is in bad health and my husband and I do most of his shopping and all of the driving to his many appointments. He lives alone and it's usually a dirty mess over there. He refuses household help. More to the point: He has no will. He owns no property but has several accounts. I am his POA. There is substantial money which he probably wants to go to my sister since he is partially supporting her in another city. This is fine with me, but she is not named as a beneficiary on anything despite discussion by me about this. Our mom passed away 13 years ago, and she is still named as beneficiary on some things. On some accounts there is NO beneficiary. Dad pays all his own bills and says he intends to work on all this, also once upon a time made an appointment with an attorney to talk about a will, then cancelled it. For one account, I copied a beneficiary form and placed it in front of him. No go. He is still procrastinating on it 7 months later. I feel like I can't nudge him any more. I love him and we are still buddies, but I am just fed up. So, bottom line, how can I prepare myself for the financial fallout of his death? I just want to shield myself now. Enough is enough.
Is there no Secondary Beneficiary? Generally it would include all the children if no one person is named, to share equally.
Different states have different laws. I had a friend who became widowed and Pennsylvania refused to honor the New York will they had, so the widow only received 1/3 of the estate and the children (1) received the other 2/3 following the existing Pennsylvania laws at the time. And no, the child would not give to her mother what she knew her father had planned. So the widow only received 1/3 of what she was entitled to. Make the call to Legal Aid and find out what you need to do.
Often elderly folks understand better if they think their hard earned $ will go to anyone but the family.
Try one last time to appeal to his pragmatism.
My brother just just passed away in NJ. He was not indigent but not considered below the poverty level due to his SS.
I have been on the phone daily dealing with one detail and then another. He had no will. He had no “estate” as defined by the state.
You on the other hand will be inundated with much much more. It’s been almost a month for us & I can’t take it anymore. He bought a used truck in March that I am trying to figure out what to do with - and that’s the end. (I think.....lol). It’s beat the clock too - his insurance ends 7/19. It’s crazy! You can’t stop to grieve.
Please don’t stop trying to get your father to an Estate Attorney before he is deemed unable to make such decisions.
Try the “fib” that with no will his money will be tied up for years and depleted by additional costs for everything but it’s his choice. Let him know how bad a choice not having a will actually is - nothing but trouble for those who remain.
Research an established Estate & Inheritance firm & have his ppwk ready - IRS tax filings, everything so if the attorneys request it you will have it.
I hope your father agrees sooner rather than later.
I hope it goes well.