Kind of OT: Wills & reef tanks

[redlion4]

So, my wife and I are at that age in life where wills are becoming important. The kids are 5 and 2, and we are taking our first true long vacation without them - 10 year anniversary trip to Grand Cayman with 5-6 full days of SCUBA ......, but back to the topic.

We know who we want as guardians for the children and are struggling to decide on seperate individuals to manage the trust and yet another to act as the executor of the will. Would like to hear from anyone else that has gone through this process, and how they decided who to name.

There is at least on item that we (my wife and I) can come to an easy decision on -> the 55 gallon reef tank. No one in either of our families does fish or reef tanks. And the truth is that our 55 gallon is really not worth a lot of money - it is a simple setup, designed with minimum maintenance and minimum necessary on-going investment in mind. So, what to do with it if the worst should happen? There are no better hands anywhere to take in the livestock, corals, and equipment than TCMAS members.... It will be interesting to see how the attorney helps us write that into the will somehow. My fear however is that the execution of the will drags out and no one figures this out until after livestock death starts (no food, no top off water, or something else goes wrong) .

We are planning to work with a local attorney in Apple Valley - Sally Mortenson, http://www.mortensonlaw.com/ . Does anyone have experience with her firm? Would also be interested in any other referrals to good will/estate/trust attorneys that are in the South Metro area.

Open to advice anyone has, including any past experience with this type of thing...

Ryan.

[redwinger]

Couple of Ideas.
1. Just write it so that it gets donated to a college or a school biology dept.

2. have the executor sell everything and donate the proceeds to the children.

[dirk griffin]

You should consult your legal counsel on most of this. Everyones situations are different. Just like tanks there is no one right way of doing this.
Most families have a family member as their choice for the kids to go to. Assuming that is the case, I have seen most put their $$$ where the kids go. Assuming you have made the right choice with someone for your kids(also assuming both kids go to the same person) hopefully with life insurance/investments/anything else, any/all proceeds should to go to the kids well being/college/cloths.....
If anyone other than that guardian controlls the $$$ he/she could/would potentially run into $$$ issues. Who has who's best interest in mind....Sometimes both could be right and you have a real mess.
If the kids are going in different directions, this is the wrong place for advice. Unless a certain legal counsel is someones recommedation.
One other important thing EVERYONE NEEDS A WILL!!!!!!!

[Soltaker]

Livestock to Capman sounds like a great choice

[oyam123]

Just dont drop dead....

[redlion4]

Yep, everything is with a local attorney. We just picked one after various phone calls. It seems hard to get a referral from anyone. Not sure exactly why - no one else doing wills? or no one likes working with attorneys?

Yep, donating the reef tank is the way to go. Normal pets (dogs/cats) are much easier to deal with. Saltwater reef/fish take more careful planning. Like I said though, the "window of time" to pass these onto the next set of caring hands is narrow. Lack of care for more than a few days can make any reef system head downhill quickly - heck, this happens at times even when one is watching closely.

No plans to drop dead. SCUBA and travel both have risks, as do many hobbies. Better to be prepared than to be sorry. It is not fun stuff, but it will save many people tons of grief if it is ever needed.