S
stefen
Guest
In the early 1980's, following my mothers funeral services, my Aunt who was staying in my parents home, asked if I wanted anything from thier safe?
Huh?
What safe?
Where?
Apparently my dad had built a safe into the ell-corner of the kitchen counter, and you had to get on your hands and knees to get to it.
A long story short, the safe contained insurance docs, property legal docs, a coin collection belonging to my grandfather and another belong to my dad, and an assundry of other important papers, including thier Last Will and Testament.
Whew!
Lucky that my Aunt mentioned the safe because if she hadn't, no one would have ever known until the house was torn down or renovated.
And under a dresser drawer we found 16 bank books with various deposit amount. My Dad, apparently opened a new account close to where he was working (became a Building Contractor after leaving farming). We'd go to a bank and present 1 or 2 bank books and ask for current status and find sometimes that there was upwards of 1 or 2 more accounts that we didn't have records for.
In the end, it took a total of 8 years to find, close and settle the estate.
Lesson learned is to talk with your parents (or your kids if you are the parent) and disclose all financial records and where the information is stored.
Huh?
What safe?
Where?
Apparently my dad had built a safe into the ell-corner of the kitchen counter, and you had to get on your hands and knees to get to it.
A long story short, the safe contained insurance docs, property legal docs, a coin collection belonging to my grandfather and another belong to my dad, and an assundry of other important papers, including thier Last Will and Testament.
Whew!
Lucky that my Aunt mentioned the safe because if she hadn't, no one would have ever known until the house was torn down or renovated.
And under a dresser drawer we found 16 bank books with various deposit amount. My Dad, apparently opened a new account close to where he was working (became a Building Contractor after leaving farming). We'd go to a bank and present 1 or 2 bank books and ask for current status and find sometimes that there was upwards of 1 or 2 more accounts that we didn't have records for.
In the end, it took a total of 8 years to find, close and settle the estate.
Lesson learned is to talk with your parents (or your kids if you are the parent) and disclose all financial records and where the information is stored.
