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.
#
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.

We’re From the Government. We’re Here To Help You

Here’s a head-shaking moment courtesy of government bureaucracy.
I’m waiting for a call back from the Public Trustee’s office. I like to think I won’t be waiting long to clear up this matter, but the government’s pace can be glacial.

A few years ago my Uncle Reynold died in government care. He’d been a ward of the Province for most, if not all, of his adult life.
Consequently his government cheques such as AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped) were banked.

A few month ago my dad was advised that everything was sorted out as to who gets how much and that cheques were to be sent out.
Shortly after finding this out my dad passed away. Logically, the simplest and easiest thing to do is make dad’s cheque out to his estate.

But this is the government and logic is a stranger in a strange land.

I asked the Public Trustee’s office back in January what they needed from me in order to get Uncle Reynolds’ money released.
The fellow I spoke with said I needed to send him a copy of the probate.
But probate wasn’t necessary in my dad’s case.

The fellow didn’t have a response for that so he said he’d get back to me.
Yesterday I received a letter from the Public Trustee’s office advising me that I needed to send along a copy of the Grant of Probate.

I’m sure this fellow is just following the rules.
He’s probably forgotten that I said there was no probate.

I’m sure this can be handled simply and efficiently, but for now I’m just going to shake my head.

Promoting a Lie

Bush’s recent comments about wanting to increase the overall size of the US military reminded me of something that has annoyed me greatly. I’ll get to it shortly. But first, Canada doesn’t have a draft. Neither does the US right now. Every so often a bogus leaked report gets spammed around the Internet warning that the US draft will be reinstituted.
So far it’s been a hoax. But how does one increase the size of the military without a draft?
By getting more volunteers of course.
And that brings me to why I’m annoyed. Ever hear that ridiculous song-and-dance about Canada’s All-Volunteer Army? My country used to brag about it.
You see, back during WWII all our soldiers signed up. Yet we had conscription back then. That’s different from the draft because . . . um . . . because . . . “conscription” has 12 letters and “draft” only has five letters.
My dad was conscripted. He was 22 and single and exactly what Canada was looking for. So he went on his way to do his duty for his country. And when he got there he was given a piece of paper to sign. It said, “I volunteer.”
He did not sign.
Why?
“Because,” he said to me, “I didn’t volunteer.”
He was given three chances to buy into the Big Canadian Lie and three times he declined.
Dad told me that you weren’t punished for not signing, but neither were you promoted. Apparently one of the higher-ups suggested to him one day that he could go far in the army if he wanted. Well, that just wasn’t enough of a carrot.
So he led parades and became a driver for some higher-ranking fellow. He drove this fellow around BC selling Victory Bonds and got free beer out of the deal.
Not bad for refusing to lie.
I think it’s genetic. My Great-Grandfather Utas left Gammalsvenskby, a Swedish village in Ukraine, in 1886 over military duty.
Originally the settlers were told they wouldn’t have to serve in the Russian Army. When this changed he left. In fact, he was the first person from Gammalsvenskby to pack up his family and head for Canada because of it.
That’s not family lore. We had no clue why he left until we read Gammalsvenskby – the true story of the Swedish settlement in the Ukraine by Jörgen Hedman.
Good for him for taking a stand. We just don’t like to lie. We really don’t like to be lied to. And it’s extremely offensive when your own government does it and expects you to play along.