Interesting that that law says they must be handwritten. I have no idea why that has anything to do with anything. Less chance of forgery? My hand aches thinking of it.

"How much should we ask for?" "How much can we get?" "How much do you need?" "What's the total budget?" "The budget depends on what we can get." "How much should we ask for?"

Yup.

I just got off the phone with one of the construction contractors who wants to bid on the project--god knows how he got my name--and if I were him, I wouldn't be bidding. Too many imponderables at the moment.

It could be that the handwritten will would reduce the chances of forgery, but also indicate that the person writing it was alert enough to write it out.

I don't have a will, but I also don't have any dependents or pets. My parents are already named as beneficiaries of my retirement plan and Mom's name is on my savings account, so about 95% of my net worth would default to them without need for a will. I suppose if I outlive both of them (not a sure thing, given the longevity of women on Mom's side of the family) I'll have to make arrangements for funeral costs and division of assets among my closest cousins.

They don't HAVE to be handwritten, it's just allowed. I think it's so Old Man McDonald, who would never go to no dang lawyer, can write his Last Will and Testament in his own shaky hand on the back of a dirty napkin two days before he keels over in the back 40, and the courts can accept it.

They don't HAVE to be handwritten, it's just allowed

The article you linked to says:

This type of Will must be prepared in your own handwriting.

Yeah, Old Man McDonald can't type it out and email it to someone and have it be valid, nor can Junior McDonald claim that his Old Man dictated it.

I'm looking for a fall/spring coat--opinions on this? It's got a detachable hood and a removable fleece lining, and it's fully washable.

Erin, I missed the conversation last night, but I had to chime in since I'm basically a single mom now and I've been thinking a lot about a will lately. I don't think I'm scared of dying more than anyone else but I do worry now because it means my kids (well, E, F, and the coming baby) would likely be split up.

We have a will that stipulates that N goes to one person and G goes to someone else AND then we had to pay to change that once circumstances changed. Grace comes with a set of doctors and challenges and whatall. Of course the new guardian we have chosen was super open to it, but still has yet to learn the basics of Grace care. So if we die in a horrible car crash, then the nurse will have to bring them up to speed.

If Grace is ever decannulated then maybe the will we change again. But N's potential guardian lives in a state with bad supports for kids with special needs.

The other thing our lawyer was pretty rocking on, with guardianship etc, is that he also asked that we appoint temporary guardians who would be available immediately -- like 30 minutes. He noted that there have been occasions that the permanent guardians are not as available under immediate circumstances and kids have gone to CPS while they wait.

So we have immediate temporary guardians and permanent guardians. And then separate medical people who make medical decisions and then money people.

We have made a complicated will for people who have no assets but lots of obligations.