For the benefit of other people in this situation: you have to open an estate account in the name of the person whose will you're administering, meet with the bank where the account now is, give them originals of every document since the Magna Carta, and get them to cut a cashier's check in the amount in the account, which check you take to the bank of your choice, together with new originals of all the docs.
And then you find that they can't proceed, despite all your preplanning and stopping of payments into the account, etc., because the estate account has its own legal existence and needs its own ID. Which means applying to the IRS for same, but they blessedly do it fast online and I nipped home, navigated the IRS website despite their arcane architecture which requires you to enter as if registering a small business in order to get to Door Number Two, ID for an estate account, got back to the bank to continue the interrupted meeting, with it in hand, all printed out.
So we got it done, finally, and just as we were wrapping up the meeting, the Great Earthquake of 2011 started. Everyone in the bank, this not being an equake zone, looked around in wild surmise, and I commented to the officer in my meeting, gosh, I knew we were doing something significant here, but I didn't think it warranted this kind of a reaction. Not quite in tune with this form of humor, she solemnly said, we have opened the estate account, Mrs. A., is that what you referred to?
But I think God really needs to get a nice hobby. First storms and floods to stop my friend M and me from meeting, ah, Thou Shalt Not Have a Nice Cup of Tea! and now that I get a tricky legal maneuver completed, ah, Don't Think I Didn't Notice! maybe I should suggest knitting a nice family of dolls or something.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, this morning the cats are cautiously seeking assurance that it was only an earthquake, not some Big Dog in the house, and that it's done now. Duncan finally came out from under the bed
when I showed him the local headlines
and he and Marigold studied them
before Marigold went off to inform Fluffy of the All Clear.
~giggles at the kitties reading the news~ Poor dears, glad they are back to their normal selves!
ReplyDeletePity the bank lady didn't have a sense of humour, a little laugh (even a bit off tone) can really brighten any day!
Isn't bureaucracy a pain!! Someone should start a business just doing all this 'stuff' for people - I think it would be a huge success. Our Cosmo has finally come to the conclusion that this is home now and doesn't run for the under-bed pacifier every time there's a strange movement. Mitzy, on the other hand, could care less.
ReplyDeleteDid the Dollivers insist on an earthquake party? I can just picture them rubbing their yarny hands together in glee: "Get out the teapot!"
ReplyDeleteHow in the world are you going to get Beareavement 101 to all the people who need it? I think you should publish a book and offer it to every funeral home in the country. Sad that professional people like bank managers don't have great senses of humour. I would probably have had trouble not laughing at her lack of reaction and my own joke (if I had been quick-witted enough to think of it).
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening to our world? An earthquake and now a nurricane bearing down on you. Stay safe my friend. I will be watching the news closely.