Where There's A Will There's a Way
4 December 2007
It is almost three weeks since my grandmother died. Some of the things that we had to do afterwards were a lot easier than expected. Telecom cut of her phone as soon as my mother rang them, and just needed a copy of the death certificate to close off the account. We don't even have to pay the last phone bill - they will write that off. The power company was just as easy to deal with.
We are now getting down to the difficult part if managing her estate. My grandmother didn't have a will. The bank now requires us to go and see a lawyer before they will close her bank account. My grandmother had left a bit of money in her account - certainly more than we were expecting - but it looks like a large chunk of this will be taken up with the lawyers fees. I suspect that we will have to apply for letters of administration through the court.
This whole scenario has highlighted how important it is to have a will. I arranged my will four years ago after my aunt died. My family knows where to find it and what's in it, so there will be no surprises when I die. I wish that my grandmother had done the same.