Editor: Christmas is supposed to be a joyous family celebration filled with gifts, turkey and everything associated with the holiday.
Unless you’ve recently lost a loved one.
I just lost my youngest daughter at the end of October.
If her physical loss wasn’t enough, I’m now dealing with all the paperwork that has to be cleaned up. Ordinarily, these things can be dealt with fairly swiftly by the executor who is appointed in a person’s last will and testament.
Unfortunately, my daughter had no will and thus had not appointed an executor.
By birth, her living daughter should assume that role.
But agencies and financial establishments do not recognize her officially in that role.
Even with a death certificate, I was unable to access my daughter’s bank account, adjust her auto insurance or transfer her auto ownership over to her daughter.
It took me a frustrating month of “sorry, there’s nothing we can do” moments before I realized I would have to acquire a legal document to assume an executor role.
I contacted a lawyer and filled out the necessary documents, one of which was a letter signed by my granddaughter that gave me permission from her to assume the role.
That document, including references, goes from the lawyer to the courts to be approved and certified.
The process takes about 30 days.
My hope is that, as official estate trustee, I can finally begin to deal with all the things that tied my daughter to society.
So, if you are stuck for a Christmas gift idea and if you have married sons or daughters, no matter their age, who own a house and a car, have young children, I implore you to put a kit or a lawyer’s business card in their Christmas stocking.
Most people think, “I’m 35. I’m not going to die.”
My daughter was 47 and hadn’t planned on dying either.
My Christmas wish for you is that you don’t have to go through what I am enduring.
Rick Nisbet
Chatham-Kent
