lindaelane |
04-02-2023 08:58 AM |
No Close Family or Friends
Wow! I am glad you posted today. - I am in the same situation as you are with no one suitable among family/friends to be executor. My estate goes to charity. My legacy, i.e. getting the funds to my charity, is very important to me.
Yes, all my accounts are TOD and my house has a ladybird deed. But there is more for your executor to do. Cancel credit cards, stop utilities, arrange sale of your house (probably "as it") and more. Your executor needs to have a summary sheet of all these things. But how to be sure you have thought of them all? See the next paragraph:
Yesterday I discovered a marvelous resource. Cake End-of-Life planning. They are an amazing resource. Plans start at $6 but the $24 a year plan is best. They walk you through everything you would need to think of. They can help you get a will and medical POA, etc., but if you have those things, they help with all the other steps. Visit the site - they will be invaluable to me and I think to you,
joincake.com
(I get no referral or anything for this.)
My attorney is my executor (called "personal representative" in Florida wills). He is Wade Boyette with BCN law firm. His fee is 2% of my estate, which is the customary fee.
Cake End-of-Life Planning is going to help me finalize details for how my executor will hear of my death. As a safeguard, a person I know at my charity - Compassion, International - will check on me from time to time and has the contact information for my lawyer.
I have checked wit one estate planning attorney and two fiduciaries specializing in estate planning regarding trusts. A trust is not needed unless your assets are quite substantial. The successor Trustee, who distributes assets at your death, would charge the same 2% that your executor would plus you must pay to set up the trust. I have under 2 million - I am not sure where the cut-off is, but there is a point where a trust becomes advisable. An estate planning attorney can advise you.
I am told the hospital where your body is taken automatically notifies Social Security/Medicare. I am unsure about what happens if I die abroad but I am going to join Cake End-of-Life planning for help with those details.
My executor will make calls regarding my pre-arranged and pre-paid burial (cremation) and notify my cousins of my death if they do not already know. These things are in the summary sheet I have left for the executor. I have a "vial of life" on my refrigerator stating who should be notified if I die, but beyond that - in case I die away from home or the vial or the note in my wallet is missed - I am unsure what happens. However, I think my new Cake End-of-Life planning service will have ideas.
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