The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-07-23
An Argument With Business Men Who
Have Neglected to Make Their Wills

wife. a profligate son, and a foster
daughter. There was unpaid salary
coming to him from the city, and ac-
counts We're standing in his name In
several banks, but no win was found.
The widow, though nearly prostrat-
ed by grief, found herself in immedi-
ate need of funds for many necessities
and applied to the city for her hus-
bands unpaid salary. The pay clerk
told her she could not obtain it until
h had qualified as administrative of
the estate. Greatly disturbed, she hur-
ried to M OF the banks, out was there
notified that not only must she quail
fly as administrative but also obtain a
waiver OF the inheritance tax from the
comptroller of the state. She went
from bank to bank, only to hear the
same conditions imposed. At the time
when more than anything else in the
world she wanted to give her heart
up to Its sorrow, she was compelled to
go with her weeds upon her, trailing
her grief and distress from money
lenders office to another, until she
found one who would furnish her with
funds upon conditions she could meet.
Had her husbands house been de-
Gently in order, a will would have been
found among his papers, which made
his wife or ONE trustworthy friend
his executor without bonds, and those
moneys and other assets of the estate
would have been available within a
very few days.
But there are other and far grayer
consequences that may fall upon the
loved ones through failure to have a
will prepared. Take the very case in
point. The son of this man had virtu-
ally been cast out of the home because
OF his profiigate habits. The father
had frequently stated that he would
never leave him anything. The proper
.ty was all to go to the wife and the
foster daughter; but unfortunately this
intention was never expressed in the
form Of a will. After the fathers death,
too, an apparent defect In the adop-
ton Of the foster daughter developed,
and lit is more than possible she will
inherit nothing, under the law, al
though she has been in the family since
infancy. This means that the wife
must give up two-thirds OF the estate
to this vagabond SON., who will waste
1t In dissipation. As IL to make the
conditions still worse and furnish a
more ominous warning to what a neg
Iectful husband and father may in
fiict upon his loved ones by sheer
carelessness. this profiigate son has
not been heard from for two years.
According to New York state laws, no
presumption. of his death will arise
until he has been absent and not heard
from for seven years. Before this es-
tate can be distributed will be nee
essary, therefore to advertise for this
son at least two or three times, and
even then. In all probability. a share
representing his interest will be set
aside and tied up for a long time.
Thus the plans OF a lifetime were
shattered, and two-thirds OF the sav
Iings that the wife's ~frugality had
helped to gather, were endangered and
locked up. because this mar had
NEGLECTED to spend an hour with his
lawyer.
The records bristle with warming ex-
arnDlesi One which comes Ito mind Is
1.-The case OF d women. who was the
money Garner of the family. She had
Accumulated several Thousand dollars.
Her husband was q weak sort of fell
low. He attended to the simple book