We are getting older. Several friends have died. There is a virus around. Maybe we should prepare for death. If you follow the comic strip Zits, you know that the teenager has been very upset lately because he found a gray hair in his head. He is suddenly struck by the fact that he is mortal. He asserts that it is time to get his affairs in order. That time has arrived for us.
We conferred with a lawyer who informed us that we may not really need a will. I was surprised to hear that, but she said that with the proper records filled out, we can arrange for things to be owned by our daughter upon our deaths. She told us about arranging a P.O.D., a document that is "payable on death." We went to our banks and signed such documents so that if we are both dead, our daughter becomes the owner of our accounts and property. Just like that: no will involved, no trusts, no probate.
We actually have had a will drawn up, several times. However, this ownership mechanism seems simpler and faster. It isn't that we have millions of dollars of funds or property but we would like to make the handling of what we do have easy and smooth and quick.
We have both read "Final Gifts" by Callanan and Kelley. The book is available in both paper and Kindle. It is written by people who have experience with the dying and with death. As I fade away or expire suddenly, I may lose my mental abilities in part or wholly. I may say things that are crazy and that I don't mean while I function with my full self. It definitely seems better to have things in place in case I lose my faculties. There are many other good books on death, such as "How We Die" by Sherwin Nuland, MD. We both have copies of "I'm Dead, Now What?", one of many books of blanks, forms and questions that showed us how complex our lives and habits are, and how much easier it is to have a guide for someone to deal with our deaths.
