Wills and Other Legalities

There is an entire section of the Baby Boomers Retirement Club website devoted to Wills, Estate Planning and other legal matters.  It is aimed at boomers themselves and their need to prepare a will, plan the distribution of their estate and other legal matters.  But all of it applies just as well to boomers' parents--and probably with a lot more urgency given the 20, 30 years or more boomers' parents have over them.  So if your parents have not resolved these issues, be sure to check that section and get familiar with the issues.

There are of course some additional problems when you are dealing with a parent's will rather than your own or your spouse's.  If one or both or your parents does not have a will, and you bring up the subject, you may set off alarm bells.  Perhaps they are among a group of people who know they will never die and therefore see no need to have a will.  Or they may think you are lobbying to get a bigger inheritance than any of your brothers or sisters.  Regardless of their suspicions, it is essential to launch a family discussion of the issues.  Some tactics include modeling intelligent behavior and saying something like: "Mom, Jane and I are working with our lawyer to write a will.  What have you and Dad done about that? Maybe you would like to meet the lawyer we are working with."  If there are brothers and sisters, it's essential that they be included in any discussions--and probably enlisted in an effort to get the conversation going.



Useful Tips

If your parents own any personal property with a legal title--like a car or a boat--it's wise to have them give it you (or one of those brothers or sisters) and have it retitled.  Dealing with a Department of Motor Vehicle when the owner is deceased can be frustrating.  Similarly, if your mother or father own any securities in their own name, get them to open an account with a brokerage firm and deposit the securities with them.  This will mean dividend checks won't arrive in the mail, but if necessary, you can ask the brokerage firm to send a check for the same amount as soon as dividends hit the account.  Of course it would be much more efficient to have the brokerage firm make a direct deposit into your mother's bank account once a month for all dividends received that month--but that represents quite a change from the old way of doing things.  Anyway, these little changes will save you hours, perhaps days, when it comes time to settle the estate.