Well, it's been an up and down week. Learned a lot more about just why you should have a will. If you have a will, you can specify who gets what or how much and who doesn't get anything. I'm not a lawyer, nor have I played one on TV, but...As explained to me by my lawyer and, in Texas, if a person dies without a will and other documents, (the term is intestate), the estate is divided up in the following manner. If married, the spouse gets the estate. If no spouse, any children will get it divided evenly between them. If no children, the estate is divided equally between your siblings. Your executor gets no say in that process.
So, even though my sister told several people that they would be getting a share of the estate, since she didn't put that in a will, those people will get nothing and her siblings will get a third each. I can already sense a problem building.
There are a few things I have to check into that may affect that process, so won't be discussed here. And we're not talking bazillions of dollars here, but...having been through this with my Dad's estate and him having a will in place and still getting yelled at by siblings, I'm not looking forward to this next bit of time.
So...Once again, if you don't have a will...Get One!!!
OK, that was the Down part. On the Up part, we had a very nice day today (Sunday, AKA yesterday for you readers). Drove over to the Hilton at Austin Bergstrom Airpoort (the building was built by my Dad as the Headquarters for 12th Air Force on Bergstrom AFB in the early '70s). There we met up with Little Juvat who's home for 3 weeks or so in order to get recurrent in both his Father and Husband roles.
Long flight from Honk Honk to LA. Long layover there but not long enough to get a room. Flight to Denver, then weather delay and finally the last leg to Austin. About 20 hours all told.
Yes, Beans, he's sleeping as I write this.
But, it's good to have him home and watching him interact with his daughter (wife also) is a joy. So...Thank you, Lord!
On the project progress front, I finished up my Pen/Pencil project for my Best Friend from Teaching. Her birthday is in a couple of weeks and I thought she'd like this.
The pen/pencil are made of Olive Wood from Bethlehem (THE Bethlehem). Unfortunately, I badly screwed up the almost finished case for the project and don't have time to purchase more raw material and reconstruct it. So...it's store bought, but I think it looks nice. I think she'll like them.
On the "Living in the country? Better have Backups!" front.
Our propane tank has now been connected to our backup whole-house generator. Electrician should be by this week to do the final wiring and testing and we should then have some backup power.
On a similar note, the storm I mentioned a couple of weeks ago? Damage estimate on the roof at my Sister's house totaled $18k and insurance didn't cover but a third of that. So, looks like a long session of baloney sandwiches will be in my future.
Somehow, this picture seems appropriate. It's not often I get to be the cloud on the left, more often the one on the right.
On the 4th, I was sitting out in my back yard when I heard some airplane noise coming towards me. Glanced up and it was a 4 ship of Piper Cubs practicing for their flyby in the parade that afternoon. As they passed my house, they executed a "Missing Man" maneuver where #4 climbs up and out of the formation to honor the fallen. Given the events recently, it brought a tear or two to my eyes.
Ahhh, Well...Life goes on.
Peace out, y'all!
Amazing how some folks react when there's a death in the family, even with a will. Saw that when my mother's parents passed. Pen/pencil look veeeerry good juvat. Doing battle with my insurance company over roof damage from last year's big hail storm........aaaargh!
ReplyDeleteNylon,
DeleteYeah, Dad's passing got kinda ugly. Trying hard to avoid a repeat. We'll see. Re: Insurance. Two lessons learned. 1) We're going with a different insurance company. 2) We're going with a different type insurance, non-depreciating. We got talked into that by the insurance rep. Saves them money on payout.
AAAARGH, is right!
juvat
Check USAA, they worked well when I had a house. I need to get apartment insurance through them.
DeleteBeans, I don't know if Juvat can get insurance through USAA. They would not insure anything over 10 acres 20 years ago when my wife and I bought a house with about 84 acres. Eight years later the story was that if used for farming or commercial purposes they wouldn't insure. They may have changed though. I use Farm Bureau now.
DeleteBeans,
DeleteWe're all on USAA (Sister, Brother, Wife and I) took advantage of that early in our lives. Dad insisted. (Always listen to your Dad)
juvat
BillB, All out structures are insured by USAA except the mobile home. They don't do that. Hence....
DeleteOne of the few positive things that came out of dealing with certain aging family members was that both their end of life paperwork and our end of life paperwork is in very good order.
ReplyDeleteLuckily we got some very good advice and acted on it.
That is some very nice woodwork. Woodworking oopsies without trips to the ER are great teaching tools. (I paused to rub the tip of my left middle finger and I think it could have been so much worse)
Three of our friends have the propane powered backup generator systems and the systems work well.
JiP,
DeleteOne of the advantages of being military was you HAD to have a will. I had the reason for that explained to me when one of the guys in my flight got killed. As a result, both Mrs. J and I have wills and a trust and our kids know who did them and where they are.
I was very happy with the pen and pencil. I learned quite a bit about glue and metal hinges as well as Hardwood and dull router bits. I am smarter now. Won't tempt fate talking about the status of my fingers though.
Good to know the backups work.
juvat
Juvat - My maternal grandparents had a trust and three siblings that communicated and they still had a long, drawn out, somewhat argumentative process that left some not so good feelings for years. I cannot imagine the situation that you are proposing where people think they are getting something and then that does not happened. Death usually happens at an inconvenient time; plan accordingly. Certainly like John, a family event (my father's death) finally prompted me to get my act together.
ReplyDeleteVery glad to hear that Little J is back (even temporarily) and hopefully the situation of separation can resolve itself in the not too distant future.
Congratulations on the generator - that must be a relief. But aargh on the roof! How can they only cover a 1/3 of the damage? (Curiosity question: With an $18,000 price tag, was this a metal roof? It seems high for a composite, but I may be completely estimating based on my ignorance.)
THBB,
DeleteLast first, not a metal roof. Our house has one and little to know damage in that storm. My sister's roof was shingles and yes, we're going to do a bit of shopping around with who replaces that, I think the bill was a bit excessive. We'll see.
We're glad he's back also. It was wonderful to see Miss B's face light up when she saw him. She's almost one and hasn't seen him since Christmas.
Had the same issue with my Dad and he had his act together. Can't wait (\end sarc) to see what happens with this. Fortunately\unfortunately, I have no say in the matter. They can take it up with the judge. Yeah, that'll make things right (\end sarc) .
juvat
My best to LJ's family- it's like he's on a loooong deployment without his family. I'll keep praying that they can all be together as soon as possible. Your 4-ship reminded me of what I've seen here recently. All the middies are in town for Summer training, and that includes flying some T-34's for Aviation Week. Or maybe they're T-6 Texans. I've seen several 3-ships overhead NASNI and the Bay. Enjoy the bologna samiches. I heard that for every contractor joining the industry, there are 6 retiring. That'll drive up costs, reduce men train the incoming, and probably result in poorer quality of work. Steve Jobs needs to recruit more!
ReplyDeleteToo early before coffee- I meant Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs, not steve jobs.
DeleteAs to the will, etc... Dad didn't have one. We let the family place go back to the bank, none of us were in a place to finish out the loan. As to the things... We didn't worry about it. My sister has the majority of the memories: pictures and stuff. It's there for the asking... Or we can take it for a year or three then return it. I did like that about the our family. The people meant more than the stuff did. Maybe honor some of the wishes of your sister even though it isn't required by law? That might go a long way to smoothing the sting. As long as they aren't "inventing" a conversation and bequeath-mint.
ReplyDeletePen/Pencil looks really good. No blood sacrifice involved in their production??
As to your genset. Be sure to put it on a schedule to exercise it, and also a monthly load test. Those things are notorious for being installed and forgotten. I was anal about testing my sets at our broadcast facilities weekly, and load testing monthly at a minimum. I'd figure for a home set, maybe run under load for an hour or so. It'll cost propane, but the peace of mind is priceless. Figure your fuel burn rate. Every rule of thumb is a guess on those, each genset is an individual. Let them get warm when testing. Don't want condensation in the oil. I figure propane is clean enough not to foul plugs, but I may be wrong about that. We had a Dodge 440 on propane, a Kubota and a Detroit on diesel. Two others were bigger CATs running diesel. After a load run, I'd let them run unloaded for a while to "cool off".
Happy days when mom, dad and baby are together. Even makes me a bit happy.
STxAR,
DeleteThanks for the generator how to's. I appreciate the info. Like many things in life, you don't need back up power, until you need back up power, then you need it bad.
No, no bloodshed in this (particular) project,
juvat
Been wondering about the standby generator project. Glad to see you're getting close to finishing. As far as exercise, ours has a scheduling function and you can set the time of day and day of the week you want it to fire up. It also has a screen selection that will give you the status of the battery (although I don't trust it and put my trickle charger on it 3-4 times/year). Interesting thing is the status screen will also give you "hours of protection", but I haven't found anyone who knows what the number means and it's time consuming to get the manufacturers consumer help on the phone..so the mystery of that number continues. If anyone happens to know the meaning of that "hours of protection" number I'd appreciate them sharing it. Haven't found fouled plugs from burning propane to be an issue as they are clean when I change them out annually. They really don't need changing out, but rather be safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteKnow you're glad to have L. Juvat home. Always nice to have all your chickens in one roost.
Cletus
DeleteCletus,
Must not have hit the enter button. A Schedule function would be nice and reassuring. Will ask when the bubba shows up and finishes the set up. May have to invite you and your spouse over to dinner to instruct me on the intracacies of trickle chargers. Yeah, watching him interact with his daughter is reassuring. Might have done something well in his upbringing.
Cheers,
juvat
Only one sibling and we have been through dealing with the estates of both our parents. Tests your character. I'm fortunate to have a great human being for a sister. Yes x 2 on wills.
ReplyDeleteWSF,
DeleteYeah, I'm 50/50 now, one good, one ???. We'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
juvat
Amen to that about wills.
ReplyDeleteGood news on LJ.
Re: roof.... maybe assets from estate can cover it?
Re: pen set box... unless it has turned into toothpicks, finish as best you can and give it to her with The Story.
Joe,
DeleteThe estate isn't involved. It was our original house when we first moved here and still is under our name. Besides, the "estate" isn't all that big. Not enough to make a dent in the bill.
juvat
Did not know you had three siblings. See? I can learn something new every day or so!
ReplyDeleteYes, the will/probate/trust/tontine process is suckage. Especially when the fedgov sticks its very large nose into the process. Good thing you and she live/lived in Texas and not one of the overly nanny states where they tax everything.
Sad to hear about the roof. Wind damage riders suck, it's almost like why have insurance. Though the one time I needed wind damage insurance claim, the nice guy contracting for the insurance company did a wink-wink and suddenly the roof was suspiciously more expensive, wink-wink. But that was after a hurrimacane and everyone was writing for much larger than normal.
The missing man formation always breaks me. Always. Even in movies. The one done in "Armageddon" at the Apollo 1 memorial just breaks me HARD. Only seen it in real life once, while driving, had to pull over and let the shakes and tears stop. Damn emotional it is, to see that in real life.
As to the box, do some fun inlay work. What's the worst that can happen, you screw it up and it volunteers for the next fire? Good for sharpening your skills on.
Family, sigh. I'll probably never see mine again until after Mrs. Andrew passes, which better be a long time from now. Glad LJ is back with family. Worries me that I know someone who now lives in West Taiwan in a city known for dissident activity and all the fun that entails.
And I love the octopus thingy. Neat.
Beans,
DeleteYeah, a brother and two sisters. I am the oldest.
I feel the same way about the "missing man" formation. Saw them swing by in diamond and asked myself if they were going to do it. Right about then....
juvat
Glad of all the good news. Wills and trusts can save a lot of grief, as can written personal property disposal wishes as part of those documents. We didn't have great problems with my parents' estates, due to their planning. One thing ... Dad grew up in the Depression, and did not trust banks. For years after his death, accounts would turn up with funds to be dealt with. And we'd each have to file ammended tax returns for the dispersments. The lawyers think that's finally all over, any left have probably been stolen. The Judge is furious (at Dad, he called us dementia-by-proxy victims.)
ReplyDeleteTesting lets you find problems on your schedule.
The Missing Man ... a tear, every time.
HTom,
DeleteThanks, Glad things are hopefully over for you. Just went and picked up Lisa and the death certificates. Now the "fun" really begins.
Agreed about the Missing Man.
juvat
I was executor for my late mother's estate. I only have a younger brother. The will divided it evenly between us and I made sure to do that, though I did take out some expenses incurred in settling the estate. It would have been a mess if she hadn't had a will. I have the AF experience and my wife and I both have wills, but they need to be updated for some family reasons that could get ugly if they are not changed.
ReplyDeleteNice wood work. Glad you can get out there in this current weather and work off tension. I wish my shop was airconditioned. Alas, it is uninsulated, unheated and unairconditioned.
BillB,
DeleteYes, it is air conditioned and we spent a little bit more for a larger cubic foot AC. We also spent a little bit more on the spray foam insulation. Summer in Texas, donch'a know?
My shop is quite pleasant 99.99% of the year. Sometimes even better than the house. Don't tell Mrs. J. that though.
Where there's a will, there's a lawyer. A forgotten thing is who is authorized to pay rent, electric, water, and other bills while the estate meanders through probate.
ReplyDeleteDon,
DeleteHadn't thought that through. What I've discovered in her accounts isn't much towards bills, but since all her stuff is on our property, I'm thinking we're already paying for it, and she just reimbursed us as she could.
That pen/pencil set and box is almost as lovely as the look on Miss B's face as she looks at Dad!
ReplyDeleteMissing Man formation/sudden influx of dust--Aye!!
And yes, run your generator for an hour or so monthly, so as to practice turning it on and off or knowing how it runs--and not just you, but some of your ladies as well--after all, you aren't always around.
Roof expenses have gotten much more so what with the supply chain ball-ups and general inflation jazz--any construction project is multiples of powers more expensive. But, never hurts to get a 2nd or a 3rd opinion!! And definitely have your insurance re-evaluated and re-quoted--again 2nd and 3rd opinions are a good thing.
Suz
Suz,
DeleteThanks, Wish I'd have thought to go to the airport and tell them thanks also.
We're casting around for roofing contractors that might not be in the pocket of the insurance bandits, haven't found one yet.
Roger on the generator testing.
juvat
Pen/pencil set is gorgeous. Just finished an 11.5 hour day. Fun but kinda not really.
ReplyDeletePosting is gonna be ultralight this week!
Sarge,
DeleteThanks, I was very happy with the way it turned out.
With the normal routine around our place and the additional things recently added to it, 11.5 sounds like light duty. This too shall pass for both of us.
Beans appears to have us covered.
That could be good or bad!
Just sayin'
juvat
I'll just echo everybody else. And yes, the wood work is excellent! And no, insurance is never going to pay off without a fight!
ReplyDeleteOld NFO,
DeleteThanks, Unfortunately, we've dealt with insurance companies before, you're right in your assessment.
juvat
Did that "missing man" plane stall during that activity? I do not remember Piper Cubs having a significant climb rate...
ReplyDelete