My Will

I don't remember how it came up, but the other night after seeing Never the Sinner, David, Laura, Lori, Karen, and I had hit the Royal Mile for a some refreshment and fellowship. Yeah, that was it, fellowship. Anyway, I don't remember how the topic of wills came up, but they did and so I mentioned how much I love the way my will begins. I had it drawn up when I was 22 and moved out of Mom's house (and if you are old enough not to live with your parents you are old enough to have a will). Ed, the lawyer who drew it up for me is another history geek and he used the oldest will form that is still valid in the state of Maryland. And he gave me the then-standard Markland discount, so this will is quite possibly the best $25 I ever spent.

A few years ago I re-typed it to make a few updates and every year somewhere near my birthday I check to make sure that it's still current. If I need to change anything it's a pretty simple matter to correct it, reprint it, and take into to work to be witnessed and notarized.

I used to do dramatic readings of the first two paragraphs (the remaining paragraphs are only of interest to me and the poor souls who will inherit three generations of debts and junk), so if you haven't had a chance to hear it read aloud, here is my

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN:

I, LETA {}, of Montgomery County, Maryland, being of sound and disposing mind, memory, and understanding, and capable of executing a valid deed or contract, considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time thereof, and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs and thereby be the better prepared to leave the world when it shall please the Almighty to call me hence, do hereby make, publish, and declare this my LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT, hereby revoking and annulling all wills and testamentary dispositions heretofore made by me, in manner and form following, that is to say:

FIRST, and principally, I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God and my body to be cremated. And my will is that all my just debts and funeral expenses be paid by my Personal Representative as soon after my demise as shall be convenient; the reasonableness of the sum of my burial expenses to be in the discretion of my Personal Representative, hereinafter named, statutory limitation, or the rule of the court notwithstanding.