Families are important
Think twice before you dump your family! I read such a nice article by Dr. Joyce Brothers in Sunday's "Parade" magazine about preserving the family. Sometimes one person, like a "rotten apple" can spoil the whole relationship.
She suggested keeping communication open and try to talk it out. No one is perfect, even you and I, so try appreciation, hugs, smiles, letters, or telephone calls. Family rituals are wonderful tools to keep a family together, too.
Many times honest and loving parents think they have divided the family fortune fairly and after they are gone, someone claims otherwise, and so there goes the works.
In the title business, I know we ran into many court cases where family plans went wrong. I remember one man disinherited his daughter because she ran off and married a man he didn't approve of. Guess what? After everyone died and the dust settled, the daughter's grandson came along and inherited everything.
Sometimes a second marriage throws plans out the window. I have seen deeds where the parents assign property to their children and one of them dies and then that brings all their children into the problem, or maybe an unknown child will show up claiming an interest. The Doyle family, a single man and two single sisters, left quite a fortune with no known heirs. Soon there were people in Ireland and other places making claims.
The courts and attorneys had a big time straightening all that out. That's what makes life interesting and so people can write books or columns in the newspapers.
Families are important!
— NORMA HANNAFORD
