Greed is good. Greed works.
Oct. 10th, 2003 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ciroccojName that quote.
Gift cases are almost as depressing as Finder's cases. People who get diamond engagement rings and cars and $135,000, then break off the engagement and refuse to give any of it back. Or people who befriend old folks in their final years, then claim the deceased gifted their house, car, jewelry, etc etc, and fight over the whole deal with the deceased's children (who hadn't bothered to call their parents for years) while the body's not even cold yet. And many, many other wonderful examples of human generosity and altruism.
Which reminds me, we need to make up a will. Because I'd hate like hell to have our families squabbling over our (laughably insignificant) "estate". Or, more likely, squabbling over who brings up our kids - either because a bunch of people want them, or because nobody does and they're all trying to foist them off on each other.
So, in hopes that at least if Chris and I kick before we make up formal wills there will be some record of our intentions with respect to the above, here's what we'd like to have happen:
Our insurance stuff should go to whoever is raising our kids. I think Chris has already divvied up what should be in trust for them until they reach adulthood, and what should be used to help raise them. And Todd and Susan, despite their current problems, are still our first choice as their guardians. Todd was a wonderful parent before all this, and he'll be a wonderful parent once things are more under control.
However, until Todd and Susan are in a better place, my mom and Guy should have the kids - they know them best, they live close by, and it would be the least disruptive place for them to go.
There. I feel better. Now we need to get that translated into legalese and made official.
Gift cases are almost as depressing as Finder's cases. People who get diamond engagement rings and cars and $135,000, then break off the engagement and refuse to give any of it back. Or people who befriend old folks in their final years, then claim the deceased gifted their house, car, jewelry, etc etc, and fight over the whole deal with the deceased's children (who hadn't bothered to call their parents for years) while the body's not even cold yet. And many, many other wonderful examples of human generosity and altruism.
Which reminds me, we need to make up a will. Because I'd hate like hell to have our families squabbling over our (laughably insignificant) "estate". Or, more likely, squabbling over who brings up our kids - either because a bunch of people want them, or because nobody does and they're all trying to foist them off on each other.
So, in hopes that at least if Chris and I kick before we make up formal wills there will be some record of our intentions with respect to the above, here's what we'd like to have happen:
Our insurance stuff should go to whoever is raising our kids. I think Chris has already divvied up what should be in trust for them until they reach adulthood, and what should be used to help raise them. And Todd and Susan, despite their current problems, are still our first choice as their guardians. Todd was a wonderful parent before all this, and he'll be a wonderful parent once things are more under control.
However, until Todd and Susan are in a better place, my mom and Guy should have the kids - they know them best, they live close by, and it would be the least disruptive place for them to go.
There. I feel better. Now we need to get that translated into legalese and made official.
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no subject
Date: 2003-10-10 07:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-10 07:18 am (UTC)Yeah. I sure wish that movie had been more fiction than documentary or worse, blueprint. But it seems like the people I'm reading about took it seriously and decided to live their lives by Gekko's motto, disregarding the whole "cautionary tale" aspect of it.
Right now I'm reading about an elderly nun with Alzheimer's who was stripped of her life savings by her great-nephew and his wife. Fun, fun, fun.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-10 03:04 pm (UTC)Have you done Equity yet? Because every year when the law students hit Equity, a good third decide that they have to move to Canada...(the same happens when we do Native Title, family law, criminal law...you name it) Canada is seen as the promised land for Australian law students, although South Africa, post-Apartheid, is starting to catch up a little. Their Constitutional Court has been making some brilliant rulings lately...
no subject
Date: 2003-10-10 07:33 pm (UTC)I kept thinking last year that at some point this year we'd cover Equity. Because my Torts profs would mention it and say, "But you cover that in Contracts and Property." But so far all we've been told is the history of the Common Law courts and the Court of Equity in England, from 1066-roughly 1800, and then told, "And then they were all merged together, so a lot of Contracts/Property has to do with equity." And that appears to be that.
Because every year when the law students hit Equity, a good third decide that they have to move to Canada... Canada is seen as the promised land for Australian law students
:) :) :)
Well, I have to say I'm pretty happy with our federal and provincial Supremes right now too. They're fairly deferent (sp?) to our legislatures, but not stupidly so. A lot of people scream about how it's not fair and not democratic for an unelected body to decide things for all Canadians... but IMHO it's nice to have some counterbalance to populist stupidity.
Besides, they're just making sure that we stick with our own Constitutional principles. Which, BTW, were put together by our elected officials.