My brother-in-law is an attorney. I once asked him how we should leave
instructions on which child receives which family heirloom (to avoid
disagreements), and he told me to leave a holographic document (wholly hand-written by the
person signing) in the same file as my will at home, which lists the items and
which child should receive them, and then how the distribution of any
remaining items should be handled (alternating choices, etc.) I did the same with
instructions on how I want my genealogy books and files handled, listing three
different area history rooms which should be offered the files and in which
order. My daughter knows she's to be in charge of my genealogy library and files
until they are distributed according to my instructions, assuming she's not
interested in keeping them herself at that point. The instructions say that
our children may choose any family photos or documents they want to keep, but
those are also all scanned onto my hard drive and back-up CD's, so anyone can
have a copy of the original if they so wish.
My brother-in-law said that doing such a document in a wholly hand-written
document and then signing it and dating it is the way to handle something that
is not notarized and witnessed. (Do not do this with a will! My grandmother
did a do-it-yourself will in the 1950's which was such a confusing mess that it
still hasn't been probated.) The holographic method makes it clear that the
instructions are the deliberate wishes of the person signing. It is not a
codicil to a will, but rather additional instructions. I also prepared a
separate holographic document with my instructions about where to bury me (which
ancestors' plot I wanted), and any preferences about music for the service, etc.
All of these things are filed together in separate folders in a main file that
includes my Power of Attorney and HealthCare Power of Attorney. That makes a
total of three holographic documents that I have prepared.
This sounds like I'm ready to kick the bucket, but I'm in my mid-50's and
healthy and plan to follow my grandparents' and great-grandparents' lead by
living to my 90's or 100's at home and doing what I want to do. However, it takes
only one accident or unexpected illness to change someone's inherited life
expectancy. And some people pretend they'll never get old or demented, because
they can't face the possibility of losing control one day. I work with
geriatric patients, and I see situations every week where problems could have been
avoided by anticipating these needs and preparing the requisite documents. Life
doesn't always give us advance notice.
Anyway, that would be my suggestion as to how to leave instructions about
those precious family photos and documents, and the results of all your hard
years of work. Anything's better than the trash heap or a flea market or eBay!
Katherine Dick Benbow
County Coordinator, Guilford County North Carolina USGenWeb
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncguilfo/index.html