A lesson from the estate

Like most things I thought it would be easy. First of all I’m not 100% so that takes its toll. Next thank goodness for friends and relatives that either show up or weigh in to ease the moment. My mom was a planner which makes it hard for me to understand how she could have missed a few steps in her estate planning. Generally, everyone and everything is helpful. All the banks and credit card companies expressed the adequate amount of sympathy as we closed out her accounts I have to believe that a certain amount of what we accomplished was actually done in record time. But I can also understand why my friends have told me it has taken years to close an estate. There really should be an easier way. Neither my brother nor I contest anything yet we will be dealing with moms taxes for 2019 and 2020 another year. Its not about erasing my mom by donating all her clothes, but the paperwork and legalities are inundating. My mom was not by most standards a rich woman financially. She was lucky She made a few good choices and found herself with enough to support herself during her lifetime in a very comfortable manner. She had more than most. But now on our end some hard decisions need to be made. I think it’s too early yet can you really move on without making those decisions? Once I leave this bubble in Florida, Ill get back to my life and hopefully address moving on differently And decision making. My brother carried the heavy lifting while mom was a live since I couldn’t really travel. Now it’s my turn to dig in and straighten the rest out. More phone calls and paperwork. I don’t have any suggestions for others on this end but it does wake you up to what you shouldn’t do. Don’t wait, do a will or trust because otherwise you’ll spend money having lawyers unravel modest items. Make sure all your safe deposit boxes have co-signers. I’m sure mom thought that having us on the corresponding bank accounts associated to the boxes was enough but not so. She tried to put all the pieces in place and everything was very well organized; she didn’t account for the hiccups or the emotion of us dismantling her life. But that’s just the way it is. My petscan is Feb 18 and my next treatment starts in 9 days.