Preparedness for when

meme30

Ok, you have all given me a kick up the backside! Our 'If we die letters' are years out of date and my DH would really struggle to sort out the accounts if anything happened to me.:(

I will get this sorted out in the next couple of weeks. Thanks everyone.:)

fuddle

This is my worst nightmare. My mam has pensions and a house that's paid for that me and my sister will inherit. She doesn't have a will (even though she's in GMB and can get it done for free I believe) although she used to have a will with a solicitor but wont tell us where because she hasn't paid their holding fees for about 25 years. She has her plot in the cemetary with my dad already paid for but neither my sister nor I know where the details are. We've mithered her as much as possible without sounding callous but she's just not interested in making it 'easier' for us. It's something I get worked up over all the time but more so because of her lack of wanting to make a hard time for us a bit easier.

2tonsils

Just in from the Uk weather forecast page

UK Weather Forecast
Liked · 3 minutes ago


We are keeping an eye on a "potentially" powerful winter storm next week tracking from the North to affect the whole of the British Isles.

Widespread gale force winds and very cold upper air associated with this system based on the latest model output.

Snow is looking increasingly likely with some heavy falls in places. During this weekend we will see a return to much colder conditions with strengthening North to North Westerly winds.

The strength of the wind will be biting at times.

Wintry showers will affect Northern And Eastern parts of the United Kingdom during Saturday for a time before winds veer to a more North Westerly direction which means the showers will gradually move off-shore.

Feel free to share the chart.

Lewis



Blimey it looks like you are getting wave after wave of storms and icy blasts. Take care folks and stay warm

Goldiegirl

I'm glad my Light Bulb Moment has sparked interesting comments

It's also given me an idea of how I will proceed

I'm going to put together a folder, with all important information in that folder.

It'll cover just about everything I can think of, from utilities, to bank accounts, to taxes, to club memberships, to how to operate household appliances, and everything else in between.

I think it'll end up being quite a big folder, but it'll be worth it, and will be great having everything in a central reference point, instead of rummaging around in the box for the information you need, which is actually in another box in a different room!

I like the idea of having another authorised user, for telephone calls. Some of the utilities are in my name and some in my husbands name, but it would be helpful if either of us could phone.

Another pressing matter is the question of Wills. Considering I've worked in the financial world all of my adult life, and know how important wills are......shamefully we don't have wills. So that's another thing that will be receiving attention this year We basically want to leave our estate to each other, and the one that is left will leave their estate to various charities of our choosing. by making a will we can ensure our wishes are carried out, and everything is so much easier with the right documents.

All of this dovetails rather neatly with my de-cluttering activites.

I'm glad I posted, as it's put in focus the action I need to take.

Thank you !

Hollyberry

That's all been really thought-provoking stuff.

Wills are sorted, and kept in the same place as all other important documents. I've just put together a "grabbit" folder which contains all my important financial information, but it occurs to me that I haven't told OH about it yet. We've both been busy finishing our self-assessment, which was what made me think to do it. But there's no point in it lurking somewhere if he doesn't know about it.

Decluttering, well, that's another story. However, should somebody ever break the internet, I'd certainly have enough reading for many an hour, and quite a lot of it useful stuff in that scenario. Just call me bookworm...

GreyQueen

siegemode, I would just like to thank you for posting about the original 1970s Survivors TV programme last autumn. I watched series 1 in the run up to Xmas and series 2 this month and am looking out for the third and final series.

I found it very thought-provoking and enjoyable and I probably would have missed out on it altogether but for your mentioning it, so please accept my grateful thanks.:)

Charis

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Another pressing matter is the question of Wills. Considering I've worked in the financial world all of my adult life, and know how important wills are......shamefully we don't have wills. So that's another thing that will be receiving attention this year

I couldn't agree more with this. My mother passed away last March. She'd always been a hoarder and had kept masses and masses of stuff, the majority of it useless. We had limited time to clear out her flat so had to bring home piles and piles of paper to look for her legal documents and in the hope of finding a will. No joy, although just to add more annoyance I found several copies of a charity's leaflet 'The Importance of Making a Will' Someone else I know wanted to leave his children some of his estate, but although he made a will he didn't get his signature witnessed. Later, he even got taken by a friend as far as the door of the bank where it was stored, to rectify matters, but by then he was very ill and the queue was more than he could face. His second wife, who by then was in care with dementia, inherited the lot. When she died soon afterwards, it went to her children. If you have children and/or property the only way you can plan for the unlikely, but not impossible, is to have an up to date will. Incidentally Mother's estate isn't sorted yet and her sister, my aunt died within weeks of my mother, also intestate. I think they thought making a will was expensive, but I think they would be rotating now if they could see my solicitor's costs :eek: He's been worth every penny, though, they left such a muddle.

midnight_express

fuddle wrote: »

This is my worst nightmare. My mam has pensions and a house that's paid for that me and my sister will inherit. She doesn't have a will (even though she's in GMB and can get it done for free I believe) although she used to have a will with a solicitor but wont tell us where because she hasn't paid their holding fees for about 25 years. She has her plot in the cemetary with my dad already paid for but neither my sister nor I know where the details are. We've mithered her as much as possible without sounding callous but she's just not interested in making it 'easier' for us. It's something I get worked up over all the time but more so because of her lack of wanting to make a hard time for us a bit easier.

Your mum would have been given a copy of the will. The Will is valid until she makes a new one. She can nominate the beneficiary of the pensions by notifying the pensions company.

meme30

When my Dad died I had to sort his will out. It was made twenty years before and he had never changed it to adjust for family changes in that time. Consequently I had to find people with whom I had no contact with for over twenty years, not easy I can tell you. All his address books were out of date and it was hard to know where to start. The thing is, people move and some die, he never kept up with those things so it was left to me to puzzle it out. It's a hard thing to do when you are grieving at the same time.
I don't want my daughters to have that sort of mess to deal with.
I think I have been putting off sorting it out because of the 'bad' feelings it brings up.:(

siegemode

GreyQueen wrote: »

siegemode, I would just like to thank you for posting about the original 1970s Survivors TV programme last autumn. I watched series 1 in the run up to Xmas and series 2 this month and am looking out for the third and final series.

I found it very thought-provoking and enjoyable and I probably would have missed out on it altogether but for your mentioning it, so please accept my grateful thanks.:)

Glad you have enjoyed it. Your post has bought me out of lurkdom and prompted me to order the dvd from amazon, series 1-3 total play is 1915 mins which makes it virtually 32 hrs of viewing for £21.75 (68p per hrs entertainment is not bad I reckon) Hopefully it will inspire me as opposed to freak me out this time.

I have been following the topics although until now have felt unable to comment.
I felt so sad at the loss of the furry purry friend/companion. We lost our little rufus 2 yrs ago on the 27th and it was heart breaking, I was a mess, he was 19 and had been with me before oh and helped me through some traumatic times. I was woken by him having a fit, I contacted the vet and was told he needed to be put to sleep. The time to take him in or wait for the vet to arrive and the car journey if he survived it would have prolonged his pain and trauma. I made a descision (and the vet and hopsital said I had done the right thing and the kindest). I sat on the kitchen floor and cuddled him so tight and covered his nose and mouth until his suffering was over whilst oh cuddled us too. I still feel upset over it but know I did the right thing and we were together until the end. I dealt with it by having him individually cremated and he sits in a little wooden casket with a tiny photo in a star shaped frame on top. I still miss him as he was such a part of my life and had such a vocal attitude. In fact I recorded him and it is now my text alert:D
I have also dealt with alchoholic oh and sil. Thankfully oh has given it up but not before hitting rock bottem. I never gave up believing and we have found it easier as time passes, but our social life is no more. It has been about 4 years now and although he misses a drink at times he never wants to go back. For all those dealing with related problems big hugs and stay strong.

Thanks for the reminders of dual tasking. We are such a good team but oh often says what would I do if something happened to you. He doesn't deal well with people and I deal with finances and shopping and phone calls etc. He is the practical one who makes stuff like our furniture when he's fit or well enough or designs rocket stoves or garden stuff etc I really must get organised and declutter. So much is stored in my head and I think I need to jot it down. I'm very capable and adaptable with most things and have a go but have to confess I have never wired a plug:o
We have succeeded in prompting our parents to organise their funeral arrangements and affairs but not actually thought so much about our own. It was horrible talking to them about it but was partly done to avoid arguements with other family members.

Whilst in lurkdom I seem to have become a squirrel and have stocked up and stashed food and supplies in every available space. It's not so much the weather that has prompted this but the fear of brown envelopes, forms and impending cuts/doom. I think a stock take is in order and organisation instead of organised chaos:o