GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH
FOUNDATION NEWS
Caring for the Ministry of Grace: "Ecclesia Perpetua"
September 2012

Board of Directors
Carolyn Warloe
President
Tom Kiersky
Treasurer
Hal Dick
Secretary
Shelly Lundahl
Director
Kris Saathoff
Director
Anne Orwick
Director
Neil Christensen
Director
Molly Hallgrimson
Ex-Officio
Pastor Wendell
Hendershott
Ex-Officio
Joy Linn
Administrative Asst.

The Grace Lutheran
Church Foundation is
a professionally
managed corporate
nonprofit foundation
established by Grace
Lutheran Church,
Corvallis, Oregon.

The Tale of a Frustrated Executor

By Molly Hallgrimson

(This personal experience is shared by the GLCF Board
as a help to anyone who is named an executor.)

Many years ago, when my brother divorced, he made a new will. He named me executor of his estate, and I didn’t think any more about it until he died suddenly eight years ago. That is when I became a student of something I would not likely need to know again. Let me explain:

My brother, sister, and I were going to have a mini-family reunion when we attended his step-daughter’s wedding in California. The night before my sister and I were to leave for California, I received a call from my brother’s ex-wife saying that she had received a call from the Alameda County sheriff’s office, stating that my brother had died. She gave me the number of the deputy I was to call.

My brother’s friends had not seen him for several days and were concerned after driving over to his home and seeing newspapers piled up. I had also tried calling several times as well, and was not able to reach him. I didn’t know the names of his friends or neighbors in order to contact them.

The deputy explained that I needed to contact the Alameda County Morgue to make arrangements for my brother’s body. I took my copy of my brother’s will with me and we left for California. Instead of attending a wedding, we were making burial arrangements and beginning the probate process. I realized that I needed a local attorney to help with this process, so I contacted a local Lutheran pastor in my brother’s town. He put me in touch with an attorney who was a church member. She was very helpful in giving me the name of another attorney in Alameda County that specializes in probate.

I soon discovered that just because I was named executor in my brother’s will did not give me ANY authority to do anything, UNTIL the court appointed me executor. The Alameda County Probate Court only meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, and only hears so many cases at a time. My brother died on August 24th and I wasn’t appointed executor by the court until October 17th. Meanwhile, a funeral/memorial service had to be planned; a realtor had to be found; the condo had to be cleaned; and paperwork had to be completed, all while staying in a hotel, dealing with grief and not having any access to his bank accounts.

Continued below.

In Service to the Ministry of Christ's Church


Grace Lutheran Church Foundation
Financial Report
January 1 - June 30, 2012

Contributions

Foundation Total Assets *

Expenses

$1,765.00

$537,139.70

$10,435.94

Projects Approved
Baptism 'donations' for children under
    age 16, $50 each
ELCA "Extravaganza", T. Weber
Communication Committee Shirts
Youth "Extravaganza", matching funds
Audio visual equipment (partial)
Office staff continuing education
Kenyan ELC, Global Missions
“Worship and a Way of Life” workshop
“End of Life Health Care” presentation
    (Parish Nurse Fund)
Library Workshop
    (partially from Library Fund)
$250.00

$2,145.00
$510.00
$6,000.00
$567.11
$185.00
541.77
$1,000.00
$545.00

$497.50

Memorial Funds
Audio visual equipment (partial Skwark) $349.54
      Total Projects $12,590.32

* The Foundation's total assets on January 1, 2012 were $512,910.13.


The Board of Directors acknowledges the generosity of
the following people for donations:
April 2012
Anita McEldowney, Corvallis, OR
Henry and Vivien Chrostowski, Corvallis, OR

May 2012
Anonymous

June 2012
In Memory of Audrey Olsen
Millie Babb, Corvallis, OR

In Memory of Ruth Alexander

Millie Babb, Corvallis, OR
Cy and Cynara Stadsvold, Corvallis, OR
The Tale of a Frustrated Executor

Continued from above...

My brother and I thought that all was tied up neat and tidy. If I were to do this again, I would definitely not assume that being named in a will as executor would automatically and immediately allow me to conduct needed business. I would be sure that I was a signatory on all bank accounts. That way, I could have had funds to deal with right away. My reality was that I was in California with $.75 in my pocket and my ATM card wouldn’t work because I was trying to use it in California under unusual circumstances. My bank put a hold on my card in case it had been stolen. Although I appreciated the concern my bank had for me, I hadn’t thought to inform them that I was traveling under unusual circumstances and that my card had not been stolen. The ironic thing about all of this is that I found out about my ATM card while standing in the lobby of a bank with the intent of opening a special account until I could gain access to my brother’s accounts. (Not very cool having to call the “fraud dept.” from the bank’s new accounts desk!)

The moral of this story is to be sure you have access to accounts necessary to conduct burial and estate plans. Do not assume that having a copy of the will is enough to open doors for you. Be sure to educate yourself on the probate laws for the county in which the person dies. Each county is different. Also, just because the will states that the executor is not to be required to post a bond, that isn’t necessarily so. Again, the county probate court determines whether or not a bond is to be posted. In my case, I had to post bond because I lived out of state.

Now that several years have gone by, I guess it wasn’t so bad. But, at the time it was a very, very stressful time – while experiencing extreme grief. I am just glad that my brother had wonderful, supportive friends that helped me in an unfamiliar community.


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