Writing a Will: Lost at Sea

[TeddyDiver]

I've been giving away stuff and posessions and continue to do so before I'll be "lost at sea". Intend to be mostly lost after that excluding passport and credit card renewals

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by meirriba

I have prepared an Excell file (protected by password).
In this file there is a detailed info describing all our earthly possessions.
Copy of this file is kept at our children hands. In case we are lost at sea the will know what and where to find.
A will is required only if you want to distribute your assets in a different way from the provisions of the law in your homeland.

Oooh, Id be careful just trusting in the "law of the land", that can have unintended consequeces, and laws change. In the USA not having proper estate planning can result in a significant chunk of your estate going to Uncle Sam...not how I care for my assets to be wasted. My father was an attorney and Ive seen heirs really get screwed due to poor planning.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Oooh, Id be careful just trusting in the "law of the land", that can have unintended consequeces, and laws change. In the USA not having proper estate planning can result in a significant chunk of your estate going to Uncle Sam...not how I care for my assets to be wasted. My father was an attorney and Ive seen heirs really get screwed due to poor planning.

I agree that you really want a will and possibly a trust in the US. It far simplifies the process for your heirs after your death. Not sure what tax you are referring to as being taken by Uncle Sam. The estate exclusion from estate tax for a couple is $22 million, so it doesn't apply to anyone allowed to post on CF.

[Hardhead]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

Good questions. We have thought about this over time as well [to the point of having a couple of commercial body bags onboard... We're trying to be prudent, not gruesome...]

Following is a brief overview of some of the steps we have taken [so far] to help mitigate any issues our disappearance may have on our survivors [or for ourselves if one of us loses the other...]:

• Maintain a constantly evolving 'What do we do?' document for our survivors. This contains all information [contacts, locations, access to all accounts and how to access passwords, etc.]
  
  It is [securely] stored on our onboard computers, and syncs to 'the cloud' any time we have internet connectivity. We can update anytime we want- with our without internet access.
  
  We use Google Docs. There are other free options as well.
  
  It can be shared with those needing future access now or in the future as needed. [More below about our strategy for sharing this document.]
• Maintain individual End of life planning using the free Cake service.
  
  This includes a Durable Power of Attorney.
• Maintain passwords to everything in a password management system [Local on our computers and securely synced to the cloud...] Ours can be shared as needed.
  
  Access instructions are included in item 1, above.
  
  We use LastPass, but there are many others.
• Maintain your Trust and/or Will, Durable Power of Attorney, etc. as necessary either using Google Docs to your attorney, or via one of the online services.
• Maintain an email account that will notify those you specify if you don't access it within x days/weeks/months [whatever period you set...]
  
  We use Gmail's Inactive Account Manager to take care of automatic notification '...that we haven't accessed the account within the period we stipulated...'
  
  I presume other email service providers offer similar services.
• In the above [to be shared] Gmail account we maintain a DRAFT email [with a Subject line that will get the survivor's attention— and they are all well aware in advance to look for that email...]
  
  That draft email contains the link to the all important Google doc [#1 above], as well as other imformation.
  
  We are looking into ways to have this draft email automatically sent should the Inactive Account Manager be triggered.
  
  Note: Since we can access our Gmail via our sat phone from anywhere, we can set a fairly short trigger period before notifications go out to our survivors... [e.g., 1-2 weeks...]
  
  Our Read Me First email draft includes mention of the possibility that our sat phone isn't working, so don't panic yet...

This is an undetailed summary of some of the protections and safeguards we have personally put into place in planning for our own demise, and notifying our survivors in case we 'disappear'.

It is very easy for us to manage and keep up-to-date from anywhere. It may sound complicated, but it is really quite simple and basic in practice.

In case any of this is useful.

Cheers! Bill

Great post - well thought out system. Hopefully never needed of course..

[billgewater]

First. Ensure you do have a properly registered will. Ensure assets registers are up to date. Ensure the family and the nominated executor know where the will is kept. Just good house keeping.

However, most legal systems require formal proof that the person leaving the will is actually dead. I am sure you can understand why.

I suggest you ask your state or national probate office (the folks who allow the will to be legally enacted and collect any taxes etc.) about any time frame or conditions.
There may be no simple outcome to your inquiries but maybe, just maybe, you can register your will in different ways or even in different states or authorities.

A past acquaintance passed away on his yacht while alone on his yacht at anchor in the tropics. His demise was not discovered for many, many days and consequently the coroner could not precisely determine just how he died. The pathologist could not be definitive.

The outcome was that it took over a year to allow the will to be enacted. He was certainly dead but although it has always been assumed he had a heart attack in his sleep as he made no radio contact, the cause was never formally established.

There is a lesson here somewhere.
But he was doing what he wanted up to the end.

Maybe you should disburse your assets before you go sailing! (This is a very common practice among older folks. It depends on how probate is assessed in your jurisdiction.)

Also make use one of those satellite trackers so the family and friends know just where you are and keep in contact. When you stop contacting them or the boat does something strange, at least they can send out information regarding your whereabouts.

If you are over 70, take up with a buxom 28 yr old floozy. Then the family will know just how you died and that you were happy up to the end.
Checking this scenario out with the spouse may bring on an early demise and solve all the problems.

Sailing off into the sunset. It is what many folks dream of doing. Beats turning into a vegetable in a retirement village.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I agree that you really want a will and possibly a trust in the US. It far simplifies the process for your heirs after your death. Not sure what tax you are referring to as being taken by Uncle Sam. The estate exclusion from estate tax for a couple is $22 million, so it doesn't apply to anyone allowed to post on CF.

Varies a lot by State...so good to have the details spelled out...sometimes how you would expect the probabte to work out is not how the court rules.

Wow, Estate Tax limit has gone up a lot! Estate Tax is what I was referencing for Uncle Sam. (Im oppossed to it at any level, just more legalized theft. The rational that it is "redistributing the wealth" is bogus...to who?, certainly not "the people", but to crooked politicians.)

[toddster8]

Hmm... Something to think about on a rainy day. Well drat, now it's raining.
I think I'd have to send annual "I'm still alive" letters to a lawyer somewhere. With instructions to "follow the plan" if they didn't get one for five years or something.
I wonder what kind of annual fee they'd charge for something like that?

[hpeer]

Biogewater,

Our lives oard friends husband had a bike accident and he ended up in a “rehab” center that was just transition to that from “nursing home.” Consequently a lot of “residents” were still there. From that experience they developed the “Barcolounger pact”. If one of them ended up in a Barcolounger then the other was to “ease him out.” LOL.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

......

Wow, Estate Tax limit has gone up a lot! Estate Tax is what I was referencing for Uncle Sam. (Im oppossed to it at any level, just more legalized theft. The rational that it is "redistributing the wealth" is bogus...to who?, certainly not "the people", but to crooked politicians.)

Well it is a nice boogey man for those that want to rant against it, but it affects practically no one in the US. It is just a non-issue that right wing politicians like to harp on as they tell you how evil goverenment is.

[toddster8]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Well it is a nice boogey man for those that want to rant against it, but it affects practically no one in the US. It is just a non-issue that right wing politicians like to harp on as they tell you how evil goverenment is.

Well... not that simple. It really has been an issue that ruined small farms and businesses, due to ludicrously inflated (for taxation purposes) land values. But in reality it can be avoided by hiring some lawyers and structuring the transition. Everyone who is really affected has figured that out by now. (Some sort of Darwinian selection might be involved?) So currently only really affects plutocrats. Whom maybe it should? But they have even better lawyers.

IMHO, the biggest current threat to the middle classes (in the USA) is the Wall Street/Pharma/Hospital Industry machine dedicated to stripping off assets at the end of life. Also probably something that can be avoided with some advance planning. Staying out of its reach in the first place might be a good first step.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by toddster8

Well... not that simple. It really has been an issue that ruined small farms and businesses, due to ludicrously inflated (for taxation purposes) land values. But in reality it can be avoided by hiring some lawyers and structuring the transition. Everyone who is really affected has figured that out by now. (Some sort of Darwinian selection might be involved?) So currently only really affects plutocrats. Whom maybe it should? But they have even better lawyers.

IMHO, the biggest current threat to the middle classes (in the USA) is the Wall Street/Pharma/Hospital Industry machine dedicated to stripping off assets at the end of life. Also probably something that can be avoided with some advance planning. Staying out of its reach in the first place might be a good first step.

It is pretty doubtful how much it has been in reality, but it isn't now and still gets used for attempted political gain.

[flyingnut40]

following

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Well it is a nice boogey man for those that want to rant against it, but it affects practically no one in the US. It is just a non-issue that right wing politicians like to harp on as they tell you how evil goverenment is.

True, almost no one actually pays estate tax, its easy enough to plan around...but I do feel better after my little rant.

[Flibbertigibbet]

Interesting thread. About halfway through the comments it started sounded like many people were recommending what I wrote years ago titled “a letter to my dead wife”. And it says exactly what others have suggested: bank account numbers, insurance, Social Security, retirement etc. Since the wife and I are often together whether sailing, in the car, or asleep in bed I send a copy to each of the kids. I had no intention that it would replace a will or a trust it’s in addition to so everything can be found it was more for the kids than the wife but it sounded kind of gruesome to say a letter to our children from your dead parents. I didn’t come up with the idea, I read it somewhere perhaps a Google search will help. I should’ve done that before I did the post