Do You Have A Will?

Every time Greg and I have to be on the road together, I worry. If both of us should die, I worry about the animals left behind.

We have friends that call us every week or so, (or vice versa) but that's a long time for an animal to go without food or water. I hope our mail carrier might notice the mail wasn't being picked up and call someone, but I doubt it.

Whenever we go on an overnight trip, I text a special friend who I know would move heaven and earth to take care of my animals. I let her know when we leave and when we get back. She knows if she doesn't hear from me by an appointed hour that she needs to come out and check on everyone.

For a long time that was the extent of our after-demise care.

On our last road trip, I sat down and hand-wrote a will. (Let me tell you, it was a Herculean feat with my arthritic hands.) In the State of Texas, this kind of will is legal and doesn't require witnesses since it's written entirely by hand.

It's a crude will to be sure, but it's a just-in-case will until we get around to either using the software or a lawyer.

Our financial advisor said it'll probably cost us around $2K to go through a lawyer. That seems a bit steep to me.

That's when I decided to look into will-maker software.

Most people don't worry about wills because in the end, the law makes sure their kids will share equally in whatever is left over. But we don't have kids. I don't want a judge deciding where our money goes, or worse disposing of our pets.

The handwritten will is extremely simplistic. We made provisions for our favorite relatives and friends. But the first item on the list were our pets. Whoever gets the pets, gets a substantial allowance for their care.

Jammy (the cat) is easy. He gets along with everyone. Nana (the border collie) will be a lot harder to place. She has to live in a home where she's the center of attention--which means being the only pet. I don't have many friends or family with that kind of environment.

I found one will software that seems to have a specific option for pets, so right now it's the front runner. In the end, as long as our pets are protected, the rest is inconsequential. I still want the rest of the estate to go to our chosen people, but it comes second to Nana and Jammy.

Fortunately, we don't have any debts so whatever will we use should be relatively simple to resolve. And although we've settled on primary beneficiaries, a more refined will will probably need more precise language on who gets what. That's a headache waiting to happen.

How about you? Do you have a will? Have you ever tried creating a will from software, or did you go through a lawyer?

I thought $2K seemed high--although it does include living wills and power of attorney. Still, does that seem high to you?