The New York Times recently published an article about a recently-released book that details accounts of family members who were struggling to make their deceased loved ones last wishes come true. One example is that of John J. Scroggin, who runs a tax business and estate-planning firm in Atlanta. His father, who died in 2001, wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington. “I called Arlington and they told me I needed his DD 214 to bury him at the cemetery.” Mr. Scroggin recalled. “I had never heard of a DD 214, but they told me if I could not find it, they would put him in cold storage for six months while they found it.” After a frantic search, “I found Dad’s DD 214 as a bookmark in a book,” he said. The Arlington burial took place. The lesson: Add military discharge papers to the documents you hand over to family members or trusted friends. Maureen Nelson, of Walnut Creek, Calif., had a less satisfying outcome. “My mom died and told both my sister and I that she was a member of the Neptune Society, which cremates the deceased and scatters the ashes at sea,” she said. “We called to have them pick her up from the convalescent hospital where she died,” she explained. “They came. But when they checked their records they couldn’t find her name, so they left. My sister said my mom even showed her the paperwork. But she must not have sent it in.” The lesson? If you’ve made your own burial arrangements, make sure you’ve shared the details. Dewey’s book certainly won’t take the place of counsel from a Salt Lake City estate planning attorney, but it does provide some helpful tips and insights in preparing for eventualities. Like how we need to keep track of “school and employment history and previous addresses” while we’re still around, even while it may be “tedious and not very pleasant,” something Dewey will readily concede. #endoflifeplanning #saltlakecityestateplanningattorney
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:08:56 +0000
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