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From: cwc@mhuxd.UUCP (Chip Christ)
Newsgroups: net.legal
Subject: re: estates
Message-ID: <1229@mhuxd.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Jan-84 10:19:26 EST
Article-I.D.: mhuxd.1229
Posted: Mon Jan 16 10:19:26 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 17-Jan-84 02:39:27 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 30


All this crap about estate laws being too complicated for the layman
and the attorney protecting us from grevious errors may or may not be
valid, depending on how tight a stranglehold the lawyers have on a
particular jurisdiction.  A recent experience of mine proves it needn't
be so.

My father-in-law died this past spring.  After the funeral, my mother-
in-law, my wife (an only child) and I went to see a lawyer recommended
by a friend.  Although the estate was not trivial, the lawyer informed
us that in the state of Florida, because he willed all his possessions
to his spouse, and the only thing he owned by himself was their car,
the will did not even have to go through probate, but could be filed
directly with the (court/state?).  Florida Motor Vehicle even
transferred ownership upon presentation of a death certificate.

All-in-all, it seemed civilized approach to an unpleasant task.  Granted,
we didn't face wood-pile relatives crawling out from every crack for a
shot at the loot, but we've all heard horror stories in situations as
uncomplicated as this.  This experience was a welcome surprise.

					Chip

p.s. The lawyer (a woman) wouldn't even accept a fee for the advice
     or filing the will, saying, "I really didn't do anything for you."
     Well, she did; first, she modified my rather jaded opinion of
     lawyers in general, and second, she provided my mother-in-law
     someone to trust in subsequent legal matters of her own.  This
     would have been true even if she had taken a fee.