Gratitude Monday – Almost Done

I am almost in the clear.

Last week I sent a lot of money to my sister, and I am so very thankful to have done it.
It was the final payment to her from dad’s estate and included, finally, the money we’d been waiting for from the Public Trustee’s office.
This was the money to dad from his brother Reynold’s estate. The rest of the family got theirs nearly a year ago, but dad’s estate was supposed to go to probate and that held up things for me. Rules changed recently and that allowed me to sign some papers instead. I’m very grateful for this change.

The cheque from the Public Trustee’s office arrived last Wednesday. I deposited it the same day.
On Thursday I had a bank draft made up and sent it by registered mail to my sister after looking up her postal code on line. She gave me her mailing address, a PO Box, several months ago, but declined to provide said code. I am grateful that it was so easy to find. I could have gone to the Post Office and looked it up in the big book of postal codes, but this was easier. I did check the book after I sent it and it looked like a different code than the one I found on line.

Oh, well. Makes things interesting.

The matters are very nearly complete. When my sister calls to whine/complain/swear/ at me for sending her the money and I confirm she has put it in her bank account I will call this part of it done.
I am keeping the estate account open for a few more months on advice of the nice people at the bank.

It’s a good idea. I’m grateful they suggested it.

A Miracle In Three Parts

Yesterday I signed some papers at my lawyer’s office and it was a miracle. It means my dad’s estate gets its share of his late brother Reynold’s estate without going through probate.

The Public Trustee’s office had insisted on probate. It was policy and no reasoned, logical argument offered by my lawyer held any sway. Time and cost aside, it meant that very likely a trustee would have to be appointed for my mentally ill sister as the Probate Court might not accept personal service of the notice of probate on her. That opened up all manner of possibilities including, but not restricted to, her challenging dad’s will.

We got working on the probate and I still asked the Universe for a change to the policy. I asked for matters to be settled without probate. I thanked the Universe for making it happen.
Last August the PT’s office changed its policy allowing for estates under $5,000 to be paid out without need of probate.

It was a miracle.

However, dad’s share was more than $5,000 so it wasn’t a miracle I could use, but it helped two of my cousins. I thanked the Universe for making it happen.

I filled out the forms, gave them to my lawyer to file, and kept pestering the Universe.
In the fall the PT’s office decided to pay out all the other beneficiaries. It was the second part of the miracle. I thanked the Universe for making this happen. I kept asking for the probate requirement to be removed and continued to thank the Universe for making the change.

Meanwhile, staffing issues at my lawyer’s office meant probate hadn’t been filed yet. I met with her in late November, went over the papers, and signed something. It was ready to go.

In December I learned from my lawyer than another change was underway at the PT’s office. In it, payouts under $15,000 could be made without probate. It was recommended we not file probate. That seemed logical to me.

Even though I had the letter I still asked the Universe for the policy change and thanked it for making it happen. Earlier this month the policy change was finalized. I signed an indemnity form and now dad’s estate can be paid out.

I asked for a miracle. I got three of them.

Thank you, Universe.

Probate Begins

The glacial speed of government is upon us. As I posted earlier I need to go through probate of my dad’s will in order for dad’s estate to be paid his share of his brother’s estate.
This is fundamentally absurd. I’m the executrix of dad’s estate and I know no one is going to make a claim against it as there’s only my sister and me. Most of the money has been paid out with just a bit left in the estate account to cover the grave costs.

But rules are rules, apparently. Exceptions aren’t to be made.

No one was going to come crawling out of the woodwork. No one was going to contest the will. Everything was going to be fine.

However, because of this process, my sister will get a letter in the mail from my lawyer. It will advise that she has a six-month window to contest the will.

She’ll be upset. She’ll wonder what to do. She’ll ask me or yell at me or both. Obviously, I’m in a conflict of interest and can’t tell her anything. It’s my money at stake.

I don’t know that she’d do it of her own accord. I don’t think she would. But she’ll talk to her friends and some of our relatives and someone will tell her to do it.

My sister, being mentally ill, collects AISH, Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped. The Public Trustee can contest dad’s will on her behalf. There’s precedent in this Province for the AISH recipient to be award the entire inheritance.

The reasoning, my lawyer explained, is better private money than public.
Those are fine words, but AISH recipients can have up to $100,000 and still collect public money. Where is the saving to the taxpayer?

My lawyer noted that to date, when inheritances are split fairly between beneficiaries, the PT’s office hasn’t stepped in. But she further noted that just because it hasn’t happened, it doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

I have six months to wonder. My lawyer suggested the probate process could take up to a year. This assumes another cousin of mine, who also has to go through this infernal waste of time, gets his probate matter going right away.

Perhaps there’s a lesson for me here that I’m not seeing. I have money in the bank. I can look at the total in my bankbook. I can dream. But I can’t touch it.

If my sister is awarded it, then I have to give it to her. If I was just a beneficiary and I spent it all, then she’d be out of luck. But as the executrix of dad’s will, I’d be on the hook for it.
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Today is new moon and that means it’s abundance cheque time.

Write yourself a cheque within 24 hours of the new moon in your area. You can find that out here.
Do not date it. Sign it “The Law of Abundance” and put it away.

Remember, abundance comes in many forms. It might be money, friends, love, work, time.
Perhaps today as I write it I’ll specifically ask the Universe for an abundance of speed in getting these estate matters settled.

Request Denied

It was worth a shot.

My lawyer presented an argument for waiver of probate on my dad’s will to hasten the process of getting my Uncle Reynold’s estate paid out.

It didn’t work.

Reynold died in public care. He’d been there most of his life and had accumulated government care money which is to be shared by his siblings or their offspring.

It was ready to be paid out, or so we thought, but my dad died before any cheques we sent.

The Public Trustee’s office has a hard and fast rule about probate of the estate.
Interestingly, this was a new wrinkle in the process for us. Another beneficiary died last spring, but we didn’t hear anything about this requirement until it came time for a pay out.

In fairness, a new officer from the Public Trustee’s office took over the file in the mean time. This fellow isn’t completely soured on life. I suspect that’s the biggest difference.

From the moment my lawyer applied for waiver until the request was shot down I repeated many times daily: “My lawyer’s letter worked.”

It didn’t.

I choose to believe the Universe knows better and there’s a reason for gumming up the works yet again.

So I filled out the forms and made an appointment to see my lawyer to get it done. The Public Trustee’s office has said it would help me if I wanted to file this all by my lonesome.

I don’t.