Friends and familes torn apart

The death of a beloved family member and friend can be devastating on both parties. It is a sad, emotional ridden time that all must go through. But if the loved one did not have their affairs in order correctly it can be a hard time for all involved.
The last few days I have been experiencing a very sad time for all who are left to deal with these affairs. I can not express enough how important it is to make out a Will and have it made out correctly. If it isn't, believe me it WILL be fought over and can be fought over by all involved. Make sure you have a Power of Attorney paper drawn up. Also make sure you have an executor to carry out your wishes. Making sure you have things taken care of before you ever get sick can keep your family and loved ones from guessing what your wishes are. Or what you wanted who to have what. Make your funeral arrangements now so they don't have to, that way your wishes will be carried out. Get that bill taken care of now so they don't have to worry about it. Their minds are going to be going in every direction and making a sound decision right now is going to be difficult enough for them. Let alone trying to figure out where you want to be buried or what type of casket you might like or if you wanted to be cremated, or even how you wanted to be dressed. Even go so far as to let them know what kind of eulogy you want, if you want music played or you want someone to sing. No detail should be left to chance.
Back to the Will. Make sure once you have it written and notorized. (which you can get done at any bank) Make sure you file it at the court house so it is legal. That way there is NO fighting over anything. But again make sure you have listed "ALL" your kids--even if you give them something or not-- you must say why you give them this or why you don't give them that. Just so the will can't be contested. It will save your loved ones a BIG hassel at the end. Make sure you have all titles, deeds, insurance papers and bank information in one easy place to be found and let someone know where to find these papers. The executor should know this information. Along with where the copy of the will is and what court house it was filed at.
You never know when your time will come so it is also good to have your executor on your bank accounts so they have less trouble taking care of those matters when the time comes.
I learned a lot when my mother passed, many years ago on how a family can turn from a loving, caring bunch to greedy clawing vultures.
But in the last few days I have seen the most sadness of all that could have been avoided if tempers could have been settled and voices calmed only to see through madness.