How Wills Work

it was from a show though. Yeah, you didn't just make that up, not just now, No, it was there was It was in relation to something we were talking about at the time and someone it made sense once, okay, um, I was on our Facebook page. I was looking for discussions like sometimes I like to go on and read like what's your favorite line? Did you ever? Have you ever read this? Just like a trip down memory lane?

Really yeah, there's like whole discussion threats. There's like forty different threads people have created, But there was one that was like, what's what's your favorite stuff? You should no line of all time? And I can't I can't find that thread any longer. That's a good one. Did you go through and count on how many you had and how many I had. I did not count. I kept a running tally, but I didn't count just mentally. I didn't write anything down as it as it were. Chuck. Yes,

nineteen seventy nine was a pretty good year for movies. Yeah, sure, allow me. That year the Muppet movie came out. Creamer Versus Kramer was number one at the box office. One of my personal favorites Amityville Horror, the first one, the nineteen nine one. Um, what do you Allen's Manhattan The Jerk. That's my favorite all time movie. Manhattan is I've not seen it? What I have not? Okay, the Jerk is awesome? Oh wait, the Jerk or Manhattan? I said Manhattan? You

said U huh yeah, Manhattan. I was just I was changing the subject, Okay, all right. I like The Jerk, Alien, Rocky two, Alien so far ahead of its time, Moonraker so behind the times. But none of these held a candle too in my opinion. Overlooked movie by director Michael Schultz a classic called Scavenger Hunt. Really have you ever seen it? No? You've not seen Scavenger Hunt? Uh? No? Was it kind of a riff on? It's a mad, mad, mad mad world. I can see how some maybe some

uh elitists might make that distinction or that that um comparison. UM. I personally think that it's a great movie and it's about Vincent Price. While it begins Vincent Price, is this aged video game magnet? Was he ever young? No? He was born like Golden Gray. Yeah, and suave, though he was much more suave than he led on UM. He is dying and he actually does die playing one of his video games, and then you cut to the his his former home, and his lawyer is executing his will,

which his stated worth two million dollars. And it turns out we learned very quickly as all the characters assemble that the whole thing is up for grabs, just single team who go on a scavenger hunt. Did you really see this or is this just I grew up on this one? Okay, Yeah, that's a great movie. Have you really not seen it? No, I've never heard of it. I strongly recommend it, and I found it just to

get myself in the mood. I found it on YouTube in parts I think eleven parts, like ten minutes segments. So if you're a very cheap person um or can't find it it's up on YouTube. Sweet. I think if you search um Scavenger Hunt and then in parentheses it'll it'll bring it up awesome. So the whole point of that was that number one, Scavenger Hunt is a good movie, and number two people do some wacky things with wills. That scenario wasn't that far off from things that people

have done with their wills. We're talking about will's chuck, let's get ready to talk about contract law. And now this is one of the first articles I wrote, and it was a little rigid, but there's not a lot you can do. I mean, try to make it a little fun at the end. But I was fully planning on complimenting you on this article. It's a good article. It's comprehensive, it's got everything you need. I mean, you don't get into like any of the legal momo jumbo,

but that's not the role of the site. And you know what, let's just go ahead and say, I'm glad you brought that up. We are not attorneys. You should not take this podcast and base your will and life on Please do not do that. No, but that being said, you can get um all the documents you need to create your own will for six dollars and cents at Staples. Really huh, yeah, they have everything. Well, that brings up one of the first points, which is a will isn't

super complicated to draw up. Um, and it varies from state to state, so you can do it yourself, but you should get an attorney to look over things. But if you want to save a few bucks, you can always go to Staples. Well, well we should probably say that again and again through this this podcast, as you did again and again through this article, Like really, you should have at the very least an attorney. Look, get your will if you're gonna do it yourself, right, Um,

let's talk about some of the specifics. Man, if if you are um, if you have ten minutes to write this thing a piece of paper and a pen, what are the high points that you want to hit to make your will as close to legal as possible? And by the way, state law governs wills, right, yeah, And you always got to check with your state and if you if you want to call it up and be like state, I got some questions for you. And if you have a will in one state and you move

it'll it'll still be valid. But you still should check your state's laws and stuff like that, right, because is it the state you die in? That is the state that you execute your your will is executed, Inez, because it seems like if you were going to move, it would seem like that's the way it would go. I guess. So. But what if you you die on vacation in Hawaii? Is your will wouldn't be based on I think it. I think it's pertains to the state in which it

was drafted and approved. Check with your lawyer, check, or at least call the state. I don't think you'd stop me so early. Sorry, all right, So what you want to have, at the very bare minimum is your name, your spouse's name if you have one, and when you were married. Yeah, your your children's names so they can make sure they're not confusing you or your other spouse with your spouse in the will. That's right, Um, your

children's names. And I love this part. How you want any step children or false foster children to be treated? You could be like, well, yeah, please treat them well. Um a statement provoking any other wills if you have one, Um, you gotta name your executor and an alternate. You should name an alternate list of powers that you want that executor to have special gifts, personal property and uh. Instructions

for distributing paying debts. There are actually you know, you can't decide whether or not you want to pay your debts, but after debt has been paid, how you want your stuff to be doled out? So I'm officially founding a movement that if you're debtors can't get the money they need out of you while you're alive. That's that. Yeah, didn't you look that up? What's the what's the law

for it? Varies by state again, um, but generally, if you have enough money to pay, say like a credit card debt, you have to pay that credit card debt.

But there there are, um, there are onuses on credit card companies, like they have to notify your executor um within like sixty days or something of this outstanding debt UM and if it turns out that there's not enough money, then you can basically say like, sorry, that's that, and the credit card company has to write it off and then we all pay for it with our outrageous financing fees. In the end um burial instructions, you can sometimes put

it in a will, but you should burial. I just got pick tongue tonight burial, and you probably want those somewhere else though, because sometimes the will isn't like immediately accessible. If you've got it locked in a safe in your family, there's another combination. They're gonna theyre's gonna leave you laying

around on the floor of the kitchen for days. You don't need to sweat your pension plan or life insurance or annuity stuff like that because that's all taken care of they the beneficiary or in those documents, so that need to be in your will, right, and it can actually screw things up right or not screw things up. It can slow things down because you can say I want this, you know, my life insurance policy to go to my estate and then divvy it up. But that

just adds a lot more time to the process. Correct. Absolutely, Um, you should probably in most states have to be at least eighteen years old to have a legal will, and you have to everyone knows you have to be of sound mind and body, or I think it's just sound mind, yeah, because I mean, what does your body of do with As long as you can like make an X or you know, draw a whale like quick wag, you're fine. So what does uh, what does that mean legally speaking? Mentally? Um?

Sound Well, I'm glad that you brought that up, or I'm glad that you put this in the article, because I think it's a good idea. Basically, you have to know that you own property. You have to know about it. Right. If you don't know that you have like a hundred acres in Montana, then you're not probably a sound mind. Or you did at one time know that you had it and just don't remember any longer, that that could

be a problem as well. If you're not it is it's it's kind of said to not be of sound mind, um, if you're not suffering from a mental illness, which I remember I saw a remake of Psycho which wasn't Psycho to It was made for TV and it was kind of a spoof comedy and the thing starts with the execution of Norman Bates will and it gets to the point where it says, I Norman Bates being of sound mind,

and everybody in the rooms like. But it kind of brings up a point like what do you do if you are mentally ill and you have a bunch of assets, and you've never created a will and you want to create when you just do you die Intestine. That's a good question into state. I do know that. Uh. If you become mentally ill later on, then it doesn't matter as long as you were of sound mind when you first wrote the will, right, okay, Um. You also need

to be aware of the people who are related to you. Again, like not like you fathered a kid back in nineteen sixty two that you didn't know about. That's not what they're talking about. They're talking about the kid that you had in nineteen sixty two and raised into an adulthood is still recognizable to you. And also you generally probably shouldn't hold conversations with lack of cons that tell you to burn things. That's usually a big red flag that

you might not be a sound mine. That's right, so Chuck, that's sound mine. Um. And let's say you've got that check check check. You know about your Lana Montana, you know your kid's name. Um, you you don't suffer from mental illness, and you are ready to create your will? All right? Boom the executor. Yes, that is the most important person in your will, because that is the person that is gonna make an inventory of all your junk. Um,

they're gonna pay your debts. They're legitimate debts. That is not Vinny who comes over and say zo he met, although you may want to pay that too if you're smart. Um distributes the assets under the terms of the will. So it can be anybody, but you want it to be someone you really really trust, someone who's probably pretty smart, maybe has a little business experience, and someone who is

thoughtful because you can get ugly. You want someone this is a tough time for a family usually, and you want someone that's got some a good bedside manner if they're going to execute your will, not some jerk. Right. You also want somebody who has a lot of time to go to your house and inventory stuff. I remember when I found out my sister is my dad's executive tricks um, and I was like, what about me? And I've read about Okay, you're just like cut me the check. Yeah.

I actually think my dad likes me more than I thought, now that I know what an executive executive let off the hook. Yeah, So, Chuck, let's talk about the different kinds of wills. Right. There's obviously the standard like ironclad will. It's been drafted by an attorney or whatever. But she'll talk about in a second. But there's some kind of interesting wills because death doesn't necessarily happen, um, when you're counting on it. Exactly. That should be this, that should

be stuff you should know. His new model, the new slogan, death doesn't happen when you're counting on it. Death doesn't necessarily happen when you're counting on it. Just to add that extra like it that it's suspense. Um. So you're talking about probably um, a couple of things. One can be an oral will, which is a lot of times in the in the old days, and it might still happen because soldiers are still very young and might not think that they need a will because they're young and

their bulletproof. But a lot of times soldiers on the battlefield would execute an oral well to their buddy there as their dying in the trenches. You want to do too, buddies, oh to two witnesses. Yeah, that that definitely helps the helps the case that it's legal. Yeah. And the in the scenario I just mentioned, which is the dying soldier on the battlefield is one of the more common ways that an oral will will be upheld, right because I

imagine they have a lot of compassion for something like that. Yeah, and um, if they can find your your buddies and get them to sign an affidavit, or they can actually come to probate court and say, yes, this is what he said. He said to leave it all to me. Yeah, no, he said to leave it all to me. Then it turns ugly. But if they both agree that it is what you said, then um, it's probably going to stand

up in court. Right. So what's a deathbed will? A deathbed will is virtually the same thing, but say, rather than dying young and being of sound mind, you might be on your deathbed and are suffering from Alzheimer's or something like that. So the deathbed will. Um. It also can be written to it's more of like the time rather than the type. Right. Um, so the the it can be written, It can be oral, and you can

have several witnesses. But it's also the most commonly challenged one because mental capacity is frequently argued like this person didn't know what they were talking about, or sobody you know had their feeding two kinks, so they did it under Durest. You know. Yeah, there's a holographic wheel, Josh, very informal, handwritten. Usually this is the coolest looking will. That's right, it's not a hologram. Uh. Not all states recognize these as valid um, so as always check with

your state. But scenario where this might happen is you wreck your car on a snowy road in the middle of nowhere and you're like, I'm gonna die and I'm gonna scratch out my will, or you pee it into the snow. That would be awesome. Or if you're James Franco or that real dude and you're stuck in a and a boulder, you could probably videotape it. Although I think holographic is strictly handwritten, so that would be an oral deathbed will sort of commonly written in blood, but

one's own blood. Um. Yeah, that's that's a pretty cool one. I said it was cool. Yes, yeah, I think that's the coolest one. Did you think so? Yeah, the impending death by oneself. Yeah yeah, and you just scratch it out on whatever paper you have and then succumb to the elements. I think it's neat because you think about it, you're thinking about the people you love and in some

way they're there with you. Right then, Yeah, but what if you're saying I don't want to leave any of those no good uh never do wells anything, Well, then you deserve to freeze to death. Okay, Uh, there's the d I y will which you mentioned. You can get um on the internet or I guess it Staples. You can get the forms. Self probating wills can save you a little time. Well, this is the ironclad will, right I think so? So this is the one where you hire a lawyer to draft it, at the very least

review it. But probably you've hired a lawyer to draft your will a couple hundred bucks from what I understand. Um, and the the witnesses sign affidavits ahead of time that are part of the will, saying like yes, this guy did say this, So you don't have to These witnesses don't have to appear in probate court to testify that this is the correct will. Right. So it expedites the whole process. It makes it more difficult to challenge and basically it's the butt of boom butt of being of wills.

Don't contest me, baby, is what it says at the bottom. Uh. And since we're talking about contesting and changing, that happens all the time, totally legal. The only person that can change a will is the test to tour. Why is that funny? That's like Hodgment says, complain ant and defend at and Judge John Hodgman. So the testatur is the only person that can do this. It's very common a lot of reasons. You might have a new kid, you might get divorced, you might get married, you might start

hating your kid, might start hating your kid. The tax laws might change in your favors. You can tweak it a bit. Uh. You might all of a sudden, you might win the lottery and think, oh, you know what, I might want to rethink how my will has read at this point. Or you might just feel like, you know what, I'm kind of old and my kids are doing okay, so I'd rather just leave my money to some great charities. That's a nice thing to do. Yeah, Okate, he's leaving the line share of his though to charity.

Oh yeah, while he's alive. Even that's right. Um, And okay, So let's say that your your elderly parent dies and you decide that, um, he or she is obviously crazy because he or she left his or her money to charity. Right, you can challenge this, Right, that's right, and there are a number of ways to challenge it. But it's that's it's first of all, it's a very difficult, long and

expensive process. Unless you have like real solid evidence of one of maybe several points that that could possibly overturn a will, it's gonna be you're not gonna win, and not anyone can challenge like Joe Schmo off the Street or like let's say you, I couldn't challenge your will and say but Josh was my podcast partner saying, you know, it doesn't matter. I don't know. You could technically be a person of legal standing, which is what you have

to be too challengea will. You either have to be someone who is in the will and you're challenging it like I got rem this is terrible. I want more money than This's what is your problem, But you can't challenge on fairness. You can do it, but you won't win. Thank you for correcting me. Um, you could be like somebody was holding this guy's feeding too. You know this is because so that's when you can challenge, or you could be someone who should have been in the will

e g. A podcaster. I would think it's usually a family member, though you probably have to be. I would be relative blood or maybe marriage. But I'm sure if you're a blood relative, it helps make you, Um, it helps your position as a person of legal stand anymore.

I'm gonna challenge your will like when we're in our eighties, and this is gonna be like some sort of proof that I agree you should be a person of legal standing at least will be like the Sunshine Boys, like we haven't spoken in thirty years and like our children are trying to get us together for a more show. Did you ever see that? But I laughed anyway, right um.

And by the way, I'm leaving all my stuff to you me so you can challenge it all you want, pal, But I just contradicted your challenge and this is gonna stand up. And you know, because this is a very I would think that this would work. Yeah, I wouldn't challenge Himy, she can have it all, Okay, she can have your junk, So good junk. If you do, you do, Josh,

I have a good chunk. Um if you do challenge it, um, which you're gonna You can either rewrite it completely, revoke the original, or add something called the codasil to your existing Well. It's just like an addendum basically. Oh, that's if you want to change your well. But if you want to challenge it, well, well, there's going to turn out so right, the will is forged this one. Um that it didn't meet the requirements of the state, Like

maybe the state requires two witnesses and there's only one. Right, Um, it didn't. Uh, the person was coerced the testator, right, it was coerced with the kink in the feeding too. Um, the testator was a victim of fraud. What would that be? I don't know. Um, Like maybe the person who drew up the will wasn't really a lawyer but charged lawyer's fee fraud. Yeah, okay. And then lastly, the beneficiary doesn't improve the executor and this could be like the executors

maybe the fraudulent attorney. Yeah it can It can't just be like she borrowed my pearl necklace once and never gave it back. There's no way she can execute this a state. Right. And I didn't get stats, but the general feeling I get is that wills are pretty tough to overturn unless, like you said, there's some pretty blatant egregious errors or fraud going on, and if and if it is rejected, then they just go to the state law, which is, you know, your wife gets this percentage, your

firstborn gets this percentage, and on down the line. And that's as if you had died without a will. That's how they treated, which is called dying intest state. Yeah, I never heard that word. Okay, so let's say that you um, let's say that you really your kid. It just really turns out to be a jerk. You did everything you could, but you just don't like your kid. You nurtured, you nurtured, you nurtured, and then natured one out. It's like Sean Penn in the game or he went

through the game. Oh yeah, like that kind of guy. All Right, Okay, you can cut your kid out of the will, but there's you have to follow a specific guideline, and that guideline is you officially have to disinherit your kid. Yeah, and I'm surprised it's it's easier to write your child out of your will than your spouse yeah, and you you brought the child into the world you married the spouse.

I was surprised by that too, Chuck. Yeah, you like you said, you disinherit a child for unless you have some sort of ironclad pre nup, then your spouse husband or wife is gonna be um, gonna be getting some dough half. Generally is the is the way to go. Um. So spouses are tough, kids are easy, right, but um, most lawyers will be like, don't do that. Do not just disinherit and don't try to cut your spouse out. It's gonna make you look like a jerk. It's gonna

make a judge overturn your will. Here's what you do. You give them each fifties sense Okay, right, pretty horrible, right. That didn't make it look like a No, it doesn't. But you put in an into rum clause that says that if they challenge the will, that they forfeit everything. And you know what that means in Latin, it means in order to frighten. So basically it's saying, you know,

it's trying to scare someone off. Right, So the fifties cents thing wouldn't work, right, You want to leave them enough so that they are they they're gonna have what they need, but they're still offended, like exactly right, So like they're like, well, I could buy five dollars whether the crack with that five thousand dollars, Maybe I should

just stick with this, you know. Yeah, divorce can complicate things. Obviously, some states renders the will invalid, but most times just the parts where the spouses in there will be uh addressed. So the bequest is what the people get. The beneficiaries are the people who get bequests actually figured out like a pretty good sentence to explain all this. The beneficiary receives a bequest from the tests will in probate court at the behest of the executor. That's so clever, Thank you,

look at you. So the the beneficiaries are all going to get slapped with what is called a death tax. Really it's called in the state tax, but opponents of the estate tax, the rich um basically created this other name for it called the death tax, which is like you're being taxed to die. You're not actually being taxed to die. Your estates not even being taxed. Your beneficiaries.

Bequests are what are taxed The thing is, it's a lot you know what I call it, what one final little from the government from uncle saying like, you paid your whole life, you paid your whole life, you died on the battlefield, and then we're going to get some more tax and it's hefty. Yeah. Well, I mean, part of the reason why the estate taxes around is to prevent dynasties from taking place. But the problem is with

all of the loopholes, tax shelters, that kind of stuff. Um, the rich are the only ones who can afford to get around from paying a state taxes, So that kind of goes onto the middle class and prevents middle class dynasties from being formed. But you know, it's really weird. I cannot describe to you how severe the level of deja vu I have right now. Is have we had a conversation about the state taxes in that same vein I don't think so. But we've done a podcast on

deja vu. Well, then prepare for some really vitriolic listener mail from that one, because in my deja vu memory, Yeah, that tick people off. What because you said that only the rich people can know about these loopholes, Well, they can afford accountants that can figure out these loopholes, lawyers that kind of things, like you ain't gonna get that at the six staples package. No, No, it actually says good luck with the decks death taxes. Pale doesn't, so

chuck um. If if you are a person living in I think two thousand six in the United States and you inherited over ten thousand fifty dollars, what did you pay close to three grand? That's just that that's just for inheriting ten thousand and fifty one dollars, right, yeah, well that's the base thing. Then you have to pay an additional thirty five percent over and above the ten

thousand fifty dollars. So let me ask you that is that thirty five percent on the whole thing or thirty percent and the whole thing minus ten thousand and fifty dollars. It's a good question, and I don't know, and I'm sure some smart attorney will say, here's how it is going. But if you're inheriting a million dollars, who cares? Yeah, well that's a lot of change. Though, if it's like Bucks right on ten thou yes, Josh, you're indeed right a million bucks? Who cares. So there's the death taxes.

You can set up a trust. That is one good way to UM maybe pay fewer taxes. UM. If smart people often set up trust, rich people often set up trust. Well, it also keeps your UM. You don't have to be rich though. I've looked into trusts. About two grand to set up a trust y UM and this number one it's it's very speedy. It keeps it out of probate court. Like when you die, you're dying wishes that are a part of your will that are incorporated into this trust.

That's that right right, UM, So all of the stuff gets divvied up right away. It stays out of court. Yeah. And if you have a minor in your family, a lot of times you'll set up a trust because if you don't set up a trust, the court is going to assign or there will be a conservator who will oversee the assets of the minor. And I think eighteen to twenty one generally in most states as when a minor can all of a sudden handle their own finances. But if you set up a trust, it's managed by

the trust store and they'll handle it for your kid. Yeah, whoever that person is I would imagine someone just as trustworthy is the executor, maybe one and the same. You're right, and then chuck. Of course there is the living will, right yeah, And there's a whole article on living wills, but so we won't get into it too specifically. But the living will has nothing to do with your money's

and properties. It is, um, Hey, if I'm ever in a serious accident, I'm on a ventilator, here's how I would like my UM, I would like you to pull the plug or not pull the plug. And it's more complicated than that, yeah, because that's like that's line one.

And the line too is if I'm ever attacked by a dog and I need a heart that's coming, that's that my family can afford take, you know, pull the plug and then down the line right, yeah, And these need to be signed and witnessed, and power of attorney is usually included because if you can't cover every scenario obviously, and the power of attorney would be let's say, you know what, I want Emily to be in charge of making this decision and not my mom, let's say, because

my mom would be like no, he'll pull through, and Namily'd be like, yeah, he didn't look too good. She wouldn't do that. I'm just kidding. Still funny, but yeah, a living will is very important though for anyone of any age. Um, it can get real messy. We've seen it in the news time and time again. Uh so yeah, get your living will taken care of. And I think you can also just do like a blanket, like don't don't take any heroic measures to save me. And I don't want to be on any kind of life support

mine mine says, do never ever unplug me. Really, I want to be a burden on my family for the rest of my life, as long as that machine can keep me alive. I want to be shaved once a week from top to bottom. All right. That segways nicely into odd things that can happen stipulations with your will. Nice Is that how we should finish up? Yeah, totally. You can have requirements of your big quest stores. No,

the beneficiaries and officiaries like, hey, this article. I know it's a long time ago, um like hey, I want I want to give my son the majority of my fortune, but he's got a Finnish college first, or quit smoking. I saw was thinking of me when you wrote that that was not you were smoking a ton back then, though, yes you were. Um, so let's talk about some funny and and odd things in history with wills. Josh finished on a lighter note. Well, there's Portuguese aristocrat Louis Carlos.

They no rona coupled all the camara. That's terrible, And I sounded like I took a bite of peanut butter towards the end. Do you want to do that one? Well, I'll now that you said his name, Um, I'll tell you what he did. He picked seventy so you don't want to try that one. He picked seventies strangers, random strangers from a phone book in Lisbon and thirteen years before he died, and said, these are the people, but don't tell him. It's going to be just a big surprise. Yeah,

and some people thought they were being conned. If I did that and I died, everybody there be um, seventies strangers each getting a one dollar bill. But I put in my will that had to be like crisp from the bank never circulated one dollar bills to make them feel good. I thought you're gonna say it like a roller quarters or something. That's another way to go. But that's more than a dollar. Yeah, you're right, Um McNair ill.

Grin Fritz was a unsuccessful but wealthy composer and he said, you know what, Metropolitan Opera of New York, I'll leave you a hundred grand if after I die, you put on this opera I've I've written. And the met said, yea, we could use that money but nothings, which is like ouch, yeah, but they said the music it was workable. That's not like they said, this is awful. I think I guess you just wentn't in their plan. Um, who else, Josh?

Who else do we have here? Onny Nermi? Yeah? Finished, businessman, this is this is my favorite one. Um. He apparently, late in life, made some friends at the rest home where he was dying, and died, I imagine, and he said, you know what, I'm gonna leave everybody here, Uh, seven dred and eighty shares of a rubber boot company that I imagine I had something to do with at some point maybe, um. And that rubber boot company went on to become cell phone giant Nokia, and all of those

people became millionaires. I imagine all of those people's children or grandchildren became millionaires because I don't think Nocchia went from a boot company to the cell phone biz like overnight. Um, but it was still very nice. This is a good story if you ask me, Uh, these are pretty cool. Josh um ed Hedrick the inventor. Um, Well, I'm not the inventor of the frisbee, but he's credited with perfecting the modern frisbee. He wanted to be. He took it

out of its original square exactly. He worked for WAMO, obviously, and he said, you know what, I want my ashes to be molded into memorial versions of the frisbee and sell those and use the money from those to open up a frisbee museum. And then another guy, a Marvel comic writer Mark Gruenwald, said, I would like my ashes to be mixed with inc and be on a mickbook. And when he died young at forty two, there were

four thousand inc and Ashes issues of Squadron Supreme printed. Yeah, wouldn't you be disappointed if that was the one you got printed in? Well, that was probably being Punisher. It was probably his comic though. I still want to be in the punished, Okay, I want to be in a better comic and who else, Dusty Springfield? Shall we mention her? Hers just kind of eat I guess it's kind of silly. She had a cat named Nicholas, and Nickols had a favorite meal, which was imported baby food. So she left

the singer of Son of a Preacher man Um. She said, you know what, Um, Nicholas is gonna lay on my nightgown for the rest of nickolas his life, and my music is going to be played and lifetime supply that cat food for Nicklas. Yeah. And then Leona Helmsley like million to her dog for the care of her dog. You can't actually leave money to an animal, Yeah, you can like stipulating your will that this money is for

the care of this animal. Right, And she left her a couple of grandkids nothing and then yeah, and then there is the There was the tree that owns itself in Athens. The elderly couple that died or the elderly woman that died and left this piece of land apparently set up a trust for the tree so that it can never be cut down or removed. And actually, if you drive along the street, you have to go around the roundabout that built around the tree that owns itself again.

It's got a little placard and a little chain around it, yea. And that tree grows up to the center of city Hall. And that tree grew up to be roy Comb. I got nothing else. I don't either. If you want to read a fine article written by a young, strapping Charles W. Bryant when he first came to how stuff works dot com, just type how wills work into the handy search bar at how stuff works dot Com. That, of course brings

up listener mail. All right, Josh, I know you're gonna balk at this because we have another request from a boyfriend trying to get his girl. No, no, no, I feel so bad for Timmy though. Alright, alright, Timmy before we read this, dude, if you don't get back in touch with us and let us know what happened, we will find you. Yeah, you're dead to me, even though

we can't find the other guy. We will find you to me since too, Yeah, and since we mentioned it other guy who we proposed, we don't like you anymore. Just what happened there, dude, People are clamoring to know. Alright, to my beloved Josh and Chuck and Jerry since two thousand nine. Uh, let me skip ahead to the interesting part um Jerry cracking up today. Guys have been a big fan since two thousand nine. One big thing that has changed since that time was I found an absolutely

brilliant girlfriend. She also loves you, guys. We would spend our nights together falling asleep, listening stuff. You should know. She would fill me in on bits I missed. It sounds like a very sweet thing. Unfortunately, recently we were having a rough time of things, sort of lost perspective and the spark faded. Uh, let me go ahead and tell you to me do the spark like that. Spark always fades. You gotta have something else going on there.

Substantial Model Airplanes is a good one. So we both am amicably agreed that it would be easier to split after eighteen months together. And the best thing we both do the same university. We are have the same courses at times. He must be English or something. We still chat a lot and I really miss her though, and I know she misses me too. You don't know that, Timmy. You're about to find out. We were great together and just needed this time apart to sort out our heads

and commit back to one another. What I would like to do, guys, is for you to say to Elaine, would you please get back with Timmy? Go back out with him. He's boyfriend again. I'm sorry girlfriend. I know she'll be listening. It would be a great way of me showing her how much I still care. Or you could just talk to her. That's that's another thing, or that he's watching her. I don't think I'll do any more of these. Um. I love her. I want to spend my future with her. I would be really grateful

for this. So that's the deal, Timmy. It's as much love Elaine. Take him back or don't. Either way, Timmy, Please let us know what happens so we can follow up and tell people what happened with the ten Elaine Socca and that is it. That is as dead as Haiku and disco. We're not doing that anymore, never again. No, all right, agreed? Okay, thanks a lot, Timmy. Good luck to you forever. All right, Um, Chuck, are you okay

with that? No? I'm fine, because it just gets out of hand and then you know, we're asking people out on a first date all of a sudden, and hey, can you tell my friend Joe to pick up the tab every now and then. You know, it's just it's I'm okay with that one. Okay, Yeah, that's fine. You know how I feel about freeloaders. All right, Well, then let's call for that and the email. Um, now we'll do that something they'll send him anyway, okay, all right, So if you know a story about a crazy will,

crazy stipulation in a will, I love that. I can't get enough of them, So let's hear him, right, yeah, real ones, are you? Yeah? Well, yeah, I don't make them up, jerks. We want to hear it. You can put it on Facebook, Stuff you Should Know, Facebook, Facebook dot Com, slash Stuff you Should Know, s y s K podcast. That's our Twitter handle, and you can send us an email at stuff Podcast at how stuff works dot com. For more on this and thousands of other topics,

visit how stuff works dot com. To learn more about the podcast, click on the podcast icon in the upper right corner of our homepage. The How Stuff Works iPhone app has a ride. Download it today on iTunes. Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you