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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Another update on Alberta Probate Kit

I received an email this morning from my editor, who says she has received the advance copies of the Alberta Probate Kit. This means the actual book; it's no longer just a manuscript! Now copies should be in the stores very soon. Thanks to all who have emailed, called or left me notes here on my blog to say they are patiently (or in some cases impatiently) waiting for the kit.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Lynne!
    My Mom and brother both passed the same week. I am overwhelmed with the cruel amount of paperwork that starts as a kit the funeral home passes you when you go talk about the funeral. I just ordered the Alberta Probate Kit (354 pages) for each person. I was excited to see your book, but then my friend, the executive secretary in an estate lawyer's office, advised me that everything was revamped in June of 2015, and though your book would be the same for most of the things that need to be done after a death, it might no longer be pertinent to the court papers. What do you think? I am just shocked that they would send this kit out to someone grieving and not thinking clearly anyway, and expect them to do it as well as a lawyer, with no instructions. I hope there will be SOME instructions in that 354 pages. I have talked to grieving people in the U.S. and other countries, and NONE of them had to do even one tenth the amount of work that Canada expects. After I'm done, I may start working with the parliament to make this easier. It feels like all this paperwork to so many different places was created just to keep many people employed to deal with our papers. If I had lost a spouse or a child, I would be lost and unable to do this. I have a neighbour who lost her husband. These agencies that want information call her home and ask for this and that, and she just says "I don't know" and passes the phone to her 14 year old daughter, who finds various account numbers and other info. The daughter is grieving too. This is just crazy! The moment my brother passed, his Dr. advised me to get my will taken care of immediately, before I start the paperwork for my Mom and brother. He said it could be stressful enough to cause a heart attack. After 2 months of full time meetings, phone calls, errands, and dealing with people who each tell me something different and give me the runaround and cause hundreds of extra pages of work...I think that Dr. must have gone through this personally. Do you happen to know what the changes were in June 20-15? Did the changes make things any simpler? Will your book help with the new kit? Enjoying your blog, and even teaching this executive secretary some things that would have gotten my court papers returned. Thanks for your helpful articles. (I hope I will be notified if you reply. The "notify me" button below doesn't do anything when I click it.)

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    Replies
    1. Yes I am aware of the changes that were made. When you buy the Alberta Probate Kit, the CD includes a link that directs you to existing updates. I can also tell you that there are further updates currently underway that specifically deal with the court documents, and those will be available very soon.

      I'm a bit confused by what you said about sending out a kit without instructions. If you are talking about my book as a kit, I can assure you that it is full of instructions. That is, after all, the whole point of it. It has instructions for completing the forms, but also for things like valuating assets, preparing an executor's accounting, and much more.

      I also don't know what you mean by someone sending out a kit to someone grieving. Are you suggesting that booksellers have the obligation to check into their customers' motivation for buying books and withhold the books that they feel should not be purchased?

      Perhaps before you start working with parliament, you should actually complete all of the documents and see if they are really as bad as you think. I thought the changes over the years to the Alberta forms and procedures were really helpful and made things much simpler than they are in some other provinces.

      There is no question that acting as executor is very stressful. As you are involved in two estates, it's doubly hard on you. Nobody enjoys being an executor when they are grieving. Absolutely nobody. This is why you - or others who are overwhelmed by it - might consider getting help from a trust company or an estate lawyer.

      Lynne

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