Codicil: Fill & Download for Free

I’m executor of an estate right now. The deceased was 80, a life long bachelor, no children. He left everything to 4 cousins (one of whom is my husband).His 3 bed condo was a total tip. Piles of old papers, shabby furniture, dust, junk, old books, dirt, chipped China, ancient appliances, worn out clothing, tons of old golf gear. We spent weeks over there and we are still not done. His will made no mention of any personal possessions, unlike my father’s. My dad very wisely attached a codicil to his will specifying who got what of his desirable possessions (ie heirlooms, good furniture etc).Behold - just a small sample:We had to sort through mountains of “stuff”. We went through papers with a comb. We coughed and sneezed as clouds of dust flew around. Everything of value was carefully photographed. He had some family silverware. He had a couple of pieces of family furniture. I shared the photos and we had a discussion about who got what - of the little there was. My husband took an old chair that was his grandfathers - over $1000 later, it has been refinished and restored, so as it stood, it had no value beyond sentimental. It was in a very sad condition. There was no fighting. I made sure everyone got what they wanted, but honestly, most family were horrified by the dirt, chaos and mess, and not too worried about being “ripped off” for possessions. We dragged mountains to the curb, we threw tons down the chute, we lugged dollies of junk to the bins.He did have family photos, and we have set about making quality scans of them so they can be shared, and then the originals will go to whoever is the closest direct descendent (ie childhood pictures of individuals will go to their children, grandchildren etc).I have to say, this has been a nightmare of a job, and we’ve got a long way to go.Don’t be too hard on those cleaning out homes. It’s hard, and unless you have the time and inclination to personally sit for hours sifting through items, yes, things get tossed inadvertently. If you really want specific things, or want to make sure the executor knows about the fact there may be things that should be preserved, call the executor immediately after the death and volunteer to HELP sort.

He fixed intractable computer networking problems.After several hours of struggling with a recalcitrant network card I was ready to kill someone or possibly throw the server out our second floor window.The cat jumped up on my desk and walked across the keyboard, turned and walked back across it. The last key he pressed was Enter, and the computer rebooted. When it came back up, everything was working perfectly including the network.About two years later almost exactly the same situation, me cursing and my partner waiting impatiently for the server to come back online to provide the network with internet access. After perhaps two hours of this I declared that it ought to work, I didn’t know what was wrong with the damn thing. She sarcastically asked “Should I get the cat?”Whereupon he ran across the room, jumped on the desk, ran across the keyboard and fixed the network again.We sat there in silence for a very long time, staring alternately at each other and a sleeping cat who apparently knows quite a lot about networks.Codiçil for those who like to know this sort of thingBoth cat and mistress worked with networks. Both are deceased and are therefore no longer available even on contract. She named him Le Phantôme de l’Opèra because she was French and he was dressed in black with white gloves and a white opera mask. They visited the Sydney Opera House together to see a friend receive an award. The staff weren't going to let the cat in until they found out his name and that the cat had been invited in his own right by one of those being honoured whereupon they tried quite hard to put them in box eight. I didn't attend so I can't say whether box eight was actually available but no deaths were reported.

This one made all the major law journals. A top lawyer asked to talk to the judge during, I think a murder trial from memory. He told the judge that his wife was concerned about the previous days transcript. The judge was confused.The lawyer pointed to say page 37. The judge was still confused. The lawyer reminded him when he, the judge, ordered him to be castigated. The judge recalled. The transcript had a typo. Hence the wife’s concern. The transcript says the judge ordered him to be castrated.If this was a rape trial, it would be a bit more appropriate. Imagine the judge staying sober next time he tells off the lawyer.As a codicil, another, lesser lawyer tried this on another judge who knew about this case. The judge after the lawyer pointed this out replied “ your wife is so concerned about such LITTLE matters!Ouch! Hate to know how judge knew this. Needs to do a bit of explaining I think!