Yeah this is one of my biggest concerns as an expat. The last thing I want to do is put my family in a stressful situation after my death.
I have already thought about this. It should be pretty easy for my family to deal with and I keep my wife involved in everything. My son is also a stacker and he knows my guns and tools. We are much alike. Our land is already in our kids' names for ease and is part of 110 acres of family land here. Cheap cremation for me with minimal expenses. Keep it easy. So sorry to hear about your son silver260. I wish you the best.
I am very sorry for the tragedy, be strong and take care of your loved ones. I hope things get resolved.
Thank you @TreasureHunter . We've been very blessed to be surrounded by fantastic family, friends and employers. Yea , still sorting things out after more than twelve months. It seems the cogs of the legal system move very, very slowly. As I've stated before , having a legal will is very important. Even if the person who dies doesn't have much , it can save those dealing with the estate a lot.
What I think is it's best to get the children involved in everything - more involved than our partners, because sometimes (for various reasons), children end up with a smaller slice than intended. I've known a few cases when one parent died and the other literally "stole" part of the inheritance from the adult child. And it all happened with the "best of intentions". Sometimes a slice of the inheritance ends up in the hands of the surviving wife/husband because of some reason the child trusts them too much. If I were the place of the child who's inheriting, then I wouldn't give access to documents/keys/passwords/cash etc. to the parent (because you can't imagine your own parent ripping you off), but they can "forget" giving it back, they can lose it or they can remarry or... find a way to "waste it". It is a risky issue that many fail to realize. So far I've seen a few cases when the child was "ripped off" with apparent "good intentions". I saw this happen to others and I wouldn't trust my spouse with the children's inheritance, no matter how big the romance, no matter how good the relationship seems. People change. Context changes. People are full of surprises. No, I'm not saying it's your case. I'm just saying that if I were to leave some inheritance to my children, then I'd make 333 % sure that it's the children that get everything and no way will my wife have legal access to it (regardless of what happens or how the relationship goes). If you want to give something PHYSICAL to your children (e.g. a stack), like a physical object, then you'd better give it to them when they're adults, during your lifetime. Give it to them now - if you can. Because later it can get lost, misplaced, stolen or damaged. And it will never reach your children's hands. I wish all goes well, as you plan - best wishes
