Westra Wills&Trusts, Finances&Fico Scores

August 10, 2015. It was a notarized Papa Murphy's pizza party. Mom had been learning all things Suze Orman, finances, trusts, wills, etc. and was encouraging all the kids to get their affairs in order, just in case (and they did the same for themselves). Chris and Derek were the first to finish up their paperwork (I guess Jensens were on top of things and had it done). Once Derek was done, he offered to help the other siblings along ... here's a compilation of a few of his emails: 

Siblings, for those of you taking Mom and Dad up on their offer/incentive for completing the will and trust documentation and funding your trust with your title -- I have a contact for you to utilize to complete your quit claim deed. Laurie Waite at Advanced Title in SLC will prepare the Quit Claim Deed for you for free, and will charge you $15 to file it with the County (the same you'll pay at the County).  You just need to email and provide her: Your full names (husband and wife), The name of your trust you want the title transferred to, The property address, Your contact information (email and phone). She can then prepare your quit-claim-deed the same day and email it over to you to have notarized when you sign and notarize your other documents. It shouldn't take her long to prepare it. 

Alicia had asked if we liked the notary that came to our house and if we'd recommend her. Yes, it was very easy - she lives up by us and she was probably only at our place for 10-15 minutes and I paid her $20 to notarize all of our docs. I asked her if she would do yours (S&A) and she said that she only does it close to her home, so you'd be more than welcome to do it over here. Also, I'm helping Jen and Gray with all of their stuff and they are at the point of needing the docs notarized as well, so it might be nice (if our schedules could miraculously align for one evening) to have you all over for pizza and just take care of all the notary signing at once. :)  Let me know what nights would work best for you couples and we can plan a night to take care of it. :) Also, Shane and Alicia - if you haven't done the Quit Claim Deed portion of this, let me know as I have a contact who can do it very simple and easy for you (I think at little or no cost). 

I scheduled a Notary for tomorrow. :) Should we plan on 6:00? We'll get pizzas (and one Jen likes). :) Notary PAR-TAY 2015!! Your kids can come tomorrow as well - just let us know if they are coming or not so we know how many pizzas to get. :) Shane and Alicia - if you have your Trust done, you could get Laurie to do your QCD before tomorrow. :) Thanks!

So there you have it! A trust/will notary party with pizza. The Blackham boys enjoyed playing with their little cousins and Roxi the dog. The adults did the signing thing, the notary did her thing, and now the kids can rest a little easier knowing the end would be a bit more organized.

From Derek:  We had several families over to our house, to sign the papers and we hired a notary to come and notarize everyone's documents. The notary showed up, and I said, "hey everyone - she's here!" Grayson looked around at the boxes of pizza and the solo cups filled with Root Beer and said something like, "This feels like a bachelor frat party, and the "dancer" just showed up! "Hey everyone - she's here!" Only, the Dave Ramsey version of that scenario."

Here's a few more earlier emails  ... it started back in January 2015.
(Included for reference and to get a feel for the whole experience).

Mom (Jan2015) Yesterday we met Nelva and Arnold at Golden Corral. It was nice to visit with them. We hadn't seen them since around my birthday. We talked for 2 1/2 hours! I wanted to "pick their brains" about setting up a living trust for you kids. It has been weighing on my mind for years. Nelva said we need to add all 6 of you kids to our bank accounts as 2nd beneficiaries with rights of survivorship.  I don't usually do this, but during the PBS pledge breaks, after Suze Orman spoke on finances, I ordered her financial materials!

Mom (Feb2015) We received our Suze Orman packet of materials. I will send on to you access to her online material (she said we can share it) for you to get your own will, trust, etc. made up, so that your family is protected, which will bring you peace of mind and protect your assets.

Mom (March 2015) The financial mistakes we have made over the years, not knowing any better at the time, so you won't make the same mistakes:

• We didn't ever put money in ROTH IRA's---we could have for about 4 years before Dad retired.
• Me not learning about all this earlier, so we could make intelligent decisions together all along the way in our 52 years together.
• Getting "Whole Life Insurance" policies. Suze and others say never waste money on them----it's a ripoff---just get term insurance. You get far more for your money. We just have 1 policy on Dad for about $40,000 and one for me for about $8,000, I think. We never got term insurance---except what his company offered free---two times his annual salary, I think.
• Not getting a trust and wills earlier---thank goodness we haven't needed them, but you never know what might happen to you. Suze tells everyone to do a will and trust-----even single people in their 20's.
• We borrowed once from our 401 (k). Suze says NEVER do that--------you are paying taxes twice on your money that you borrow.

We left the 9 Suze Orman DVD's with Chris and Kim yesterday for them to watch---from her talk shows--each DVD on different topics, such as retirement, etc. Then we can lend them to one of you-you can learn a lot of good stuff.

Mom (March 2015) I can see that we have been dangerously lax to have not done a will and trust before this time! I really want the peace of mind it will bring. Also, I would like the peace of mind it could bring to all of you to have yours done also. So, we have a deal to offer you: If you will get your wills and trusts set up within the next 6 months, we will pay for it, up to $2000 for each couple. If you choose to take advantage of this help, you can work through it on your own, with the Suze Orman CD (which I think all of you could handle if your estates are not too complicated)----in which case you could just have the $2000 for your emergency fund or whatever you choose. Or you could use the $2,000 to pay an attorney to help you do your wills and trust. I think that amount should cover it unless you chose a very expensive attorney. I think with all of us working on this at once, you can help us and each other to work through it and help with questions, etc.  I think we would all feel more peace and happiness in our lives to have it done. I didn't make this offer to Rick and Wendy because they already did it a few years ago. Janika's best friend Madison's dad is an attorney and was the stake president over the deaf branch and is a good friend of Rick's. So Brother Barney did it for them in trade for Madison's fee waiver being in Hands in Harmony Carolers.  So I will figure out another way to help Wendy and Rick.

Derek: This is incredibly generous Mom and Dad!  We'll for sure take you up on this. I'll take a look at the Suze Orman stuff right away. Last year, we looked into some attorneys to come and draft our will and estate trust, but we never actually did it. It seemed like the prices were just over $1,000 for just the will and estate stuff (for an attorney). We also looked a little at LegalZoom for the DIY method. We did get life-insurance all figured out for me with a nice policy for Danielle and the girls should anything happen to me.  Thank you again Mom and Dad for your financial example to all of us, and for your frugality over the years and your generosity. I think it's wonderful that you give so much to your grandkid's missionary, and EFY funds. And this is a great motivation to get things in place. We've been wanting to handle all this for a few years, but with so much going on, it's sometimes hard to find the time and spend the money. So thanks again.  We sure love you and appreciate all that you do for us and your grandkids. Speaking of trusts and estates -- I remember working at Zions Bank and dealing with the disbursements of estates, etc. with the surviving siblings when parents had passed. I remember being disappointed that these disbursements often got mean and contentious with kids fighting with one another over things. I remember thinking "I just can't see that every happening in our family." and I still can't. :)  Personally, I LOVE to see you and Dad spend your hard-earned money on yourselves (in the rare cases where you have - Lexus, etc.) and on positive, motivating things for your grandkids, etc. You've worked hard and you've been financially responsible and I think you deserve to spend money on yourselves. :)

Chris: Thanks so much, Mom and Dad. I created the account online for the Suze Orman site and it was easy - she does walk you through it well. I like the audio along with it also.  Looks like you can create a joint trust but a will is only for one person (no such thing as a joint-will). If you haven't gone through the online Suze Orman Will and Trust process yet, one thing you'll need is to have two alternate names of a person you list to determine if you are mentally competent (so be careful who you choose).  Your spouse is the first one to help determine that. You'll need the names of the people you choose, as printed on their Driver's License or other government-issued ID (usually their full name, but not always). We kind of had to stop while I checked that out - so I just wanted to let you know to have that beforehand. Also, if you've been in your house for a while, you can go to Zillow.com and get a rough estimate of how much your house is currently worth. They had some details of our house wrong, but their estimate is probably close enough. Anyway, for estimation purposes.

Mom: Our bank will notarize all of our documents free, except the will. It appears that most banks decline to notarize last wills. So we will probably have to go to another notary and pay maybe $10 to have our wills notarized. A question I haven't found an answer to yet is if the notary can and will provide the two adult witnesses. It would be a bother to bring your own witnesses. Witnesses can't be beneficiaries. For you kids, it seems maybe the main (and perhaps only) thing in your wills (one for each of you) is who you would want to raise your minor children (see link below for information). Talk to that person/couple and get their permission to put them. It appears that those of you who have children 18 or older, can put them, if they are willing. I imagine other arrangements could be made later if deemed best. Years ago, Merrill and Lorrie had asked if we would raise their 6 children, and we asked them. We all hoped nothing would happen--12 kids, yowee! Kind of fun for us all to work on it together and learn from each other---it is kind of overwhelming to tackle alone! Scott has already set up their wills and trust last week, except for getting them notarized and the trust funded by switching their house to the trust.

Grayson: We haven't been very involved in this discussion. It's not out of lack of interest in getting it done. We'll be sure to make progress on this in the coming weeks.  Both your insistence, encouragement to get this done, to say nothing of being willing to fund it, is very appreciated. To go through these matters together (even as I've glanced from the sidelines) has been very helpful.

Mom: When you print off your Trust (about 8 pages), also print off the "Certification of Trust" (2 pages) and have them notarized at the same time. The Certification of Trust is like a much shortened version of the Trust that you can use when opening bank accounts, etc. to prove that you have a Trust and which gives the date (some people like to keep their Trust private). So I guess it is good to take that along when doing business which involves your Trust. I read on a website this morning that it is good to let your Insurance Company know of your Trust. So we called Liberty Mutual and told them that we were putting our home and property into a Trust, but not our car. We have an Umbrella policy with them. The lady said people just usually send them the Certification of Trust (she didn't use those exact words, but that is what she meant). She said we could do it in person (they are close by, or by mail, or by email. So we are going to scan in the 2 pages and email them to Liberty Mutual as an attachment.

Chris (April 2015): For you who are working on the will and trust with the Suze Orman site Mom shared... I just wanted to share some of the things we learned in doing our trust and wills and such. Hope some of it helps you. The tips are not in any particular order.

• You'll need to create two different usernames and passwords to complete the whole process. Start at the link below: With one login you can complete the trust (combined - for both of you) and the will and health care directive for one of you. Then start again from scratch and create another login for the other person (for will and health care directive for that person). You can use the SAME activation code they sent you for the first person (the first time you used this link  giftcode PBS) Hint - use a different browser for your spouse's login - that way you don't have to switch back and forth and logoff, etc. I used Firefox for the trust and for my will and health care directive, and Chrome for Kim's will and health care directive. That made it simpler.
• The advanced health directive is easy! Do that first just to get momentum - it will help you psychologically. 
• The Trust Identification Number is also sometimes the Entity Number. You just pick the social security number for either spouse and that is the trust identification number.
• Listen to the audio follow along with each step of the Suze Orman site - very helpful.
• We went to the Title Company to have the title put in our name as Trustees of the Trust. They said on the phone it would be $50 but they only charged us $20 for the paperwork and for recording the title with the county. They said it wasn't really necessary to let a mortgage holder (Zions bank in our case) know of the change. Zions said that they probably would be notified of the "reconveyance". So we never did the Quit Claim deed as the title company changed it on the title.
• Insurance - we did let our insurance company know about the creation of the trust. We just gave them the name and the entity number - that's all they requested.  Mom sent something about making sure the title insurance has specific language for including Trustees. If not, you may have to add an endorsement to cover this (or add that language). We tried to track this down but the title company we worked with was not the original title company so we still aren't sure about this.
• Set a bookmark to https://www.suzeormanwillandtrust.com/account/login as you will go back to this site many times. Don't wait until you have "Lots of time" You can do five minutes and the site will save any info you have entered. When you go back, you do have to click through the screens you have previously done, but the info is all there. You don't have to enter it again. And, you can change anything at any time - so don't get stuck on one item of info because you aren't sure about it. It may become more clear later on, and you can change it if you need to.
• Do the Certification of Trust as well as the trust - this will give you a shorter doc to provide to any entity that needs proof of your trust. 

Call me if you have any questions I can help with. I'm so definitely not an expert, but I know more than I did a couple months ago. So grateful for the user-friendly Suze Orman site!

Mom (July 2015) Well, D & D officially earned their $2,000 this afternoon by getting their house put into their trust. I'm writing so you can benefit from their experience and Chris's experience. Chris got paid his $2,000 awhile ago. Both of them went to their title company, who handled it all for $20. We probably would have been better to have taken that route, in terms of time and money and how we did it. The house was probably the hardest of anything you had to do, and now I think that part will be easy for those who have yet to do it, by benefiting from our, Chris's and Derek's experience.

The 6 (really 6 1/2) month offer will be up the end of Sept. We offered the $2,000 with a deadline to make it happen.  It should be really easy for Scott and Shane to finish up now and Jen to get started :-) ,--- now that you have several experienced siblings to guide you through the process. D & D. had previously had their 2 wills, their trust, and their "authorization of trust" (mini-trust to take to banks, etc. to show you really do have a trust and the name and date of the trust. A notary came to their house and did those documents for just $10. And it would be easier to have "self-proving" wills that way, as you could just have a couple neighbors come over to witness the wills.

Mom (July 2015): I didn't know that I had a separate FICO score from Dad's since I don't work and we share our financial accounts. We had Dad's from our online Discover statement. We just found out mine when we opened an account at Granite Credit Union in May and the lady had to check mine also and told me what it was. Dad's was 821 and mine was 798 or something like that. Do you all know yours? I don't know how you can easily find out the wife's score, do you? I think Family Home Evening is a great time to also present "Life Lessons" to your children (to prepare them for adulthood and being on their own), such as FICO scores and how people actually get different interest rates when buying a car or something, depending on their credit score. Suze Orman says rates could vary from 4% up to 9% interest on loans, depending on your score.

Derek: Thanks Mom! Yes - please do send stuff over as you find it. I've joked with my work friends that even with my MBA and my interest in personal finance, my mother (who I never saw do anything with money my whole life) has turned into somewhat of a finance expert and has been coaching me on financial matters. :) I really do appreciate all the information you send over, and so appreciate the financial example that you and Dad have been throughout our lives. I remember Dad teaching me about needs vs. wants when I was in the 8th grade and that sticking with me. Makes me think of this funny sketch from Saturday Night Live.  It's good to keep up on your credit score and your FICO score. You can check it here.  I haven't checked in a couple years, but I have heard horror stories of people who check their score only to find that it's dropped like crazy due to identity theft that they wouldn't have discovered without checking.  We are big Dave Ramsey fans and thus try to live completely debt free (except the house). However, we have been thinking that we ought to get a credit card for emergency preparedness purposes (since unsecured debt is safer in those situations than secured debt). And there are benefits to using credit cards for your everyday purchases (points, credit history, etc.). Does anyone have a card that they really prefer? We were thinking of American Express through Costco, but I heard that it's not accepted everywhere and that Costco is switching to VISA.  Anyway - recommendations appreciated. 

Scott: I think the Marriott black card offers the greatest value in terms of points and cost. It is issued by Chase. Everyone should get set up on Venmo to get the app.

Shane: Derek, our Stake Presidency showed that video in a fireside...I think that's the only time I'll see a Saturday Night Live video shown in a sacrament meeting room. As for credit cards, it really depends on what perks you care about. Because I travel a lot (typing this from San Fransisco), I use American Express for Delta Miles and Barclay's MasterCard with chip-and-pin to make European payments easier. But we also have Discover and the Marriott that Scott mentioned.  There are a ton of credit card review sites that provide good analysis of which cards are best.

Check out Mom's website for more information ...

• Financial Well Being (lots of topics)
• FICO Scores
• ROTH IRA ... Is It Right For You?