FROM A BACKWOODS SOUTHERN LAWYER
By Franklin Edenfield
A friend asked him why he decided to quit drinking. He replied, “I think it’s time to start waking up instead of coming to.”
That is probably a perfect description of New Year’s Day for many of us. Best way to avoid a hangover – don’t drink. Best way to avoid a hangover
that you might actually have is rehydrate before you go to bed. Alcohol is a dehydrant and a large portion of a hangover is nothing but dehydration.
Gatorade and/or water before you hit the sack will do wonders for the next morning.
Traditionally, New Year’s Day is a time to reassess all those things you meant to do last year but simply never found or never made the time. Here
are a few suggestions:
• If you don’t have a Will, get one. Otherwise, the great state of Georgia will control where your property goes and some lawyer will make a great
deal of money handling your estate. Good for the lawyer, not so good for your heirs.
• If you do have a Will, get it updated or you could end up with no will at all. For instance, death of beneficiary, your remarriage or the birth of a child
automatically voids a will unless it was specifically made in contemplation of one of those events. That actually makes good sense if you think about
it because any of those occurrences would naturally cause someone to re-evaluate their estate plan. However, most of the simple form wills that you
find on the internet or that fraternal organizations send to their members don’t take any of that into account. I have been involved in cases where the
decedent had a very old will that he or she thought was still valid, but it had been statutorily revoked because of a divorce or the birth of a child. That
sometimes results in someone inheriting a large portion of the decedent’s estate that he or she wanted to have nothing.
• If your Will is more than a few years old, then there is a better than even chance things in your life have changed to a point that it no longer actually
represents your intentions. Your children may now have children and you would want to make some provision for them. The daughter-in-law you cared
enough about to make a provision for in your will is no longer your daughter-in-law. Your son, who you believed would never amount to anything has,
in fact, amounted to something. Even worse, the person you truly wanted to benefit at your death has now predeceased you. However, his widow who
you never liked and never disguised her dislike of you will probably now receive your son’s share of your estate. The possible inequities that can result
from relying on an out-of-date will are simply too numerous to list.
Reviewing and updating your Will every year is not particularly time consuming and should not be particularly expensive. It is, however, a very
necessary act and it allows you to make corrections and additions that are no longer possible when your will becomes effective, i.e. you die. There is
no provision for making a post-mortem change in your last will and testament. Drink another cup of coffee; have another “hair of the dog;” wait until
half-time of the ballgame; but make sure you review and update your Will.
TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | JAN 2020 21