Anna Nicole

So who is tired of Anna Nicole Smith? To be honest, I find the whole thing somewhat fascinating and even though it's such a worn out statement by now, she really is this generation's Marilyn Monroe. Larger than life, even in death.

I find the fighting over her body to be revolting, and my opinion is: Give her to Howard, she obviously loved him, and let him bury her next to her son. Watching all those interviews with her after her boy had died was just heartbreaking and I think she lost a lot of desire to live after he died.

Which brings me to another point. Not only the importance of a will, but the updating of it after any sort of change in your life. How many of you out there (especially you with babies and children?) have wills? Not just a legal guardian for your children, but an actual updated will? Life Insurance?

Many people wrongly assume that if you die without a will, "everything" will go to your spouse. Not true. Every province has different rules about what happens if you die intestate (without a will) but there are 5 major drawbacks to anyone no matter where you live.

1.Provincial law will dictate who gets what. It is NOT always the spouse.
2.You will pay more tax when you die without a will. Why give the government any extra?
3. Delays are a given, without a doubt. An administrator for your estate will be appointed and this all takes time. Do you have a car payment or house payment to make? Are all your accounts joint? They might be frozen...and a bank will only wait so long for a payment.
4.Extra costs are guaranteed. Amongst other things, any money owing to a minor must be paid into court (set aside in a trust) and that costs.
5. The Big One: A judge will decide who the guardian of your child will be. Without a valid will, you forfeit the right to decide who will raise your children.

Many people think: "Oh well, my parents will raise the kids." but what if his parents want the kids as well as yours? What if the judge decides that ALL your parents are too old/too sick/too poor?

GET A WILL. You don't need an expensive lawyer, go to a Notary Public, or even get one of those pre-printed ones and fill it out and just have it notarized.

You know, there are so many little things that you never think of. When we had our wills done, quite a few years ago, we wanted to leave it all to the kids. How simple. Then the notary asked us: "What if one of your boys gets married and then you die...and then he dies. Do you want this wife to have half of everything you own? What if she has kids from a prior relationship. Do you want them to have half? What if you're in an accident and you are both in a coma? Who is going to pay your bills? Who is going to decide if the house should be sold? So many choices to make. Does the executor know your wishes? Who IS the executor? Does he/she get expenses?

Do you know if your spouse wants to be cremated or buried? Are you married? What do his/her parents want? Maybe they are hugely "anti-cremation" and will argue with you over what happens to the remains. What about life support? Remember Terry Schiavo, and the legal fight that happened there?

I'm sure that Anna Nicole never dreamed that her body would lie in a cold room, decaying, while people fought over who should have it. How sad. I mean, really, how incredibly tragic. And a simple will (in her case just an update) would have saved so much trouble.

So. Discuss it tonight and make a plan to get a will.