What is the best way to draw up a will right now?
A friend of mine said to do an online will but WHO would be around to notarize it?
I thought back and I remembered something.
My grandmother died in 1975. She did not own a car nor know how to drive so she was a shut-in after my grandfather died in 1958. There was no telephone in the house to use until after her death. She relied on my late uncle that she lived with for many things needless to say.
She wanted to draw up a will and had no way to find an attorney, etc. to write one up for her so she wrote her own will up in her own cursive handwriting which I have to this very day in my drawer in the other room.
My grandmother was an orphan at the age of 10 as both of her parents died back to back around 1905 or so. She was unable to attend school after that so she was not well-schooled and was bi-lingual and she primarily spoke German most of her life (both of her parents were German immigrants that came to the USA in the 1880s). The will is brief yet concise I must add, despite her limitations.
After she died, my uncle did everything he could to ignore her will which worked for awhile. However, at some point her will ended up in court and it was upheld and deemed to be a legal instrument by the judge in the county she was born and lived in her entire life. I know little about the details of why or how it ended up in a court of law and deemed to be legal.
A handwritten will (aka a holographic will) is still valid today under California law.
I am wondering, does anyone have an idea how to draw up a will other than this way which did stand and pass the test of law? Is an online will even an option right now if I cannot go outside?
I have no will as it now stands and all would pass to my husband by California law. However if we were both to die, well, my brother (he hates cats and loves dump) would be able to grab all of what we have as the sole living next-of-kin heir and his daughter (a niece I have seen once in my entire life that is in her 30's) would be next in line. I rarely hear from him or her so these are poor relationships at best. My husband is the youngest of 10, having one sister left that lives in Ireland that is 80 years old and is disinterested in our situation.
The first thing my brother would do is collect up my cats and get rid of them. I've known this since my mother died. She had a dog and he knew I liked cats and he figured I did not like her dog that I was caring for while she was dying while in hospice care. He came to see my mother ONE time before she died to grab up what he could and advised me to "Wait till the old woman is dead before you dump the dog".
I was shocked by this statement. I kept that dog until the day he died of cancer some five years later. I was crushed emotionally as I loved my mother and father's dog as if he were them!
I tried to draw up a will after Mother died. I appointed the attorney to be the executor. After meeting with the attorney, I received an incomplete will and a note with it and a bill. The attorney advised me to find an executor.
I cannot find anyone that cares to get involved in this situation that I know of other than a puke "friend" I've known for many years that would love to do this for the money involved that an executor receives as part of the process. She is older than I am and frankly, I often wonder if her mind is right as she is extremely forgetful and pushing 70 years herself. That said, she does love animals and volunteers at the local animal shelter where she lives, but a faithful puke nonetheless.
So here I am today with no will wondering if my husband and I will live through this being we are both high risk. My husband is of sound mind but nearly blind and partially deaf due to his service in the Vietnam era war. He was unable to attend school past the 6th grade but he never told me this for many years after meeting him as his father was killed when he was a toddler leaving behind a woman pregnant with twins and eight children to care for. He had to quit school and work the farm. He has great difficulty writing and can no longer read much at all.
What are my options if any?
Any simple advice out there?
I'm sure I am not alone and that there are others here that may be in a similar situation which is no real living family members left much and no will for various reasons. 
Thank you very much for any help at all. I appreciate it.
CountAllVotes
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I’m California you are advised required to sign documents regarding this at the hospital regardless of a will. Many people with their will including myself have a DNR (Do not resuscitate).
I was thinking about this last night and have a call into my estate attorney. Going on a ventilator falls into this domain. I haven’t decided yet what I want to do, although I am leaning towards leaving my DNR in place and knowing and accepting that this means that if I should get infected, that I will choose to not be on a ventilator or only for a limited time period and allow myself to die and give that ventilator to a younger and healthier person.
You may have a different desire and it’s important to think about this and consult an attorney and make appropriate instructions.
High risk, both of us, that is the problem.
I wasn't planning for something like this, believe me! 
Thank you so much for your insights and help.
The will would not be complex. If my brother is alive to step into it (or my niece who is of the same puke ilk) it could be a nightmare. I heard the thing to do is leave each of them something in the will to CYA so to speak.
If I had my way 100%, I would not leave either of them a fucking thing.
It is disgraceful the way they have treated me and my husband over the years so they can fuck right off already as they deserve nothing, nothing at all!
When I think of the way they acted after my father and mother died and their greed, it sickened me so much I was filled with hatred. That hatred has not really changed, it is just not as intense as it once was but I cannot forget! I was warned by each of them as I mentioned to stay the hell away from him. Sad situation but I have tried. I guess I'm just not a puke, that is the problem.
took it to the bank and 2 clerks witnessed my signature... that was before the social distancing... if you can't go out... I would call your town clerk or some local official.... you might be able to get someone to your house... I'd come over and witness if you were nearby 
My husband can be very stubborn when he wants to be, and what we need is a trust. Now I fear it is too late for the rest of this year, if ever. I have, however, a separate savings account of my own and a checking acccount that might as well be a savings account -- and just before my surgery in February at my insistence we went to the bank together and I changed the POD on those accounts from him to my 2 adult kids. The "price" for this was to give him power of attorney if I'm sick.
Then he wanted to tell said kids and that's when I lost my temper. No, actually, they can find out when I drop dead -- or when they show signs of loving me at some time before then, or maybe not even then, because why? My son has cut us off for more than a year and my daughter is difficult. (And these are the people he fantasizes will take care of me if we write a trust giving them power over my affairs.) To her credit, via text and over the phone my daughter is showing a lot of signs of concern for our well-being these days, as she has fully prepped for this particular doomsday and she knows we haven't. But from my son -- silence.
So much unfinished business in this life...
Except for those two accounts, everything else is jointly held, which is fine except my kids that he raised and who he loves as much as I -- were not adopted by him, because their bio-dad has always been in their lives -- so I don't know what kind of legal limbo that puts them in if my husband survives me and still refuses to make a will.
In my personal accounts, I would rather make some separate provisions for daughter's 3 kids (son has none), but can't really on just a bank account, so 50/50 is the best I can do.
Then there's my books, some signed by deceased authors with a thriving fan base. They should NOT be dumped at a garage sale if no one in the family has room for them or cares for my taste. The local tri-counties Planned Parenthood has a notable annual book sale, and in the last few years has started selling off some of the best at Amazon during the year (I do wish I knew their alias so I could look for them ! ) I asked a friend who volunteers as a book-sorter, and she said the best way is to write a codicil to the will I don't have.
Not sure if I should just delete this -- but the OP has no doubt triggered anguish in a lot of people. Or rather, the pandemic has triggered the anguish, and the OP has opened the door to talk about it.
A will is nothing more than your last wishes. Every state is different but in California they recognize a will without a notary, so don't worry about that.
I used to work as a paralegal. I have done wills for my family and others. In a law office it's pretty much a fill-in-the-blanks sort of thing with sometimes something more specific needed. Here's a good example [link:
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You would need to change it to fit your situation. I'd be happy to help you if needed. Just send me a private message. It is not difficult at all. You can decide who gets your assets, and both of you need a separate will.
For your pets, I'd find someone you trust and simply ask them to take care of the animals, and add a paragraph that outlines that in the will. Any family members that don't like pets would be happy you already dealt with it.
Yes, without a will if either of you passes your estate is going to the survivor, but it's still easier with a will.
Edit to add: This is not the full will, as you don't end up with just initials (you'd sign at the end, full name). I found this on Google images, searching for "California will"
I will message you if I find a need to do so.
I appreciate this more than you'll ever know, believe me.
Thank you again! 
If it worked for my grandmother in 1975 and in your case as well, I have no reason to think it would not work again.
I will go this route and distribute copies of it to people I hope I can trust.
That is the problem here -- trust.
Thank you for this reply.
There are plenty of opinions I had not considered nor known about.
The place I paid for cremation is nearby and I checked with them not too long ago to make sure it was still good as I paid $1600 for both of us after my father died. It was horrible! My mother and him had never discussed the issue and she did not know what to do with the dead body. He was cremated and his ashes sat around for months. Eventually they were scattered to sea as is our plans as well.
The place is still here and still open and doing a good business but the price is about 2X the amount now for two persons.
As for the DNR's I had done, those were ASAP after Dad died too as he'd was in a horrific state being kept alive by machines that I managed to get disconnected.
Because of what happened to my father, Mother and I both immediately took care of business so to speak as we did not care to ever think this could happen again.
So as it stands now, neither of us would be kept alive if it came down to it. A hell like my father's situation drove me into action and that was over 20 years ago now.
However, after paying all that money to that lawyer and so many involved at that time, I let it go figuring it would all pass to my husband if I were to die.
As it now stands, both of us could go if we are unfortunate enough to get hit with this tRUMP sh*t that has infested the USA.
I thank you all again and please try to keep this thread going so others can see it and read it too and think think think just like test test test!
Both of us only care about the cats. The rest of what we have is valuable to a point but nothing like being millionaires or even close to that as we've spent time in poverty on and off since my DX of MS in 1995.
Its been one hell of a ride and if it ends with this COVID virus, well I guess that is God's will for us.
I did speak to a close friend re: these issues. He is one day older than I am and we are good friends and he was willing to do everything. There are two problems with him. One is that he does not understand what an executor is and what an executor needs to do. I doubt he has the patience for such a job and going up against my idiot brother would be a hell. I wouldn't wish it on anyone as he is such a disgusting ass.
Another problem is that he is not well either but I'd rather see him have a place to live than where he is now which is in a run down trailer with a hole on top of it with a tarp covering it to serve as a two-bit form of protection from the elements. He pays $350/mo. for this place to live.
Thanks again everyone and I am glad I am not alone. We are all in one hell of a damned mess. God help all of us no matter how you believe. 
Thanks, also, to the respondents.
