THE BEACH:

It is not quite dusk and the sky has that magical mix of daytime azure and evening indigo. The skies in this part of the world, particularly at this time of the year, seem to wrap around you like a cloak. We drive to the edge of the dunes, park the car, and carry the two buckets across the boardwalk and down to the beach. The tide is moving out. The wet sand is packed like concrete under my bare feet. My footprints are deeper than usual, carrying Emily’s ashes with the metal wire handle digging into my palm. The smell of the tide pools, filled with periwinkles, seaweed, ownerless shells, and the ecosystems of frail sea life leave a salty whisper on my cheeks and lips, comforting me with its familiarity. I smile to myself, wrapped in all this emotion and still looking like just another quahog digger taking advantage of a receding tide on a balmy summer night. (Atkinson, 2012)

This chapter is the story of honouring Emily’s wish to have her ashes and those of her husband, scattered in the ocean. It is emotional and personal – the ultimate of all requests, carried out regardless of the inherent difficulty, and guaranteed to create a serious influence in one’s own book of life. The chapter clearly illustrates that executorship is much more than banking and beneficiaries; much more than selling property and cleaning out closets. The executor feels the ebb and flow of a life over and over again, as she travels through the necessary steps to a final resolution.

THE BENEFICIARIES:

 

She wrote her will within a year after Rob passed away and I am executing that will some nine years later. It has never been revised. Consequences are suffered as a result.

The calls from beneficiaries who want their money are coming on a fairly regular basis. I hear from one particular relative frequently and his calls are getting desperate. I discover, later, that he called the lawyer and expressed suspicions that I may be misusing funds and he is not going to get his money. Another relative has called a couple of times, insisting that they be told ‘my cut’. (Atkinson, 2012)

Dealing with beneficiaries can be complicated. In this particular case, many of those receiving money were relatives of Rob in some capacity, and knew Emily only in a vague and general way. It is certainly not unreasonable to suggest that receiving their generous financial bequests was their overall priority. Challenges with the beneficiaries stem mainly from how the will was written. There is no contact information. There is also a trust to be established and administered by the executor and this trust could well outlive her. Alternate arrangements are required. The purpose of this chapter is to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding bequests and show the reader how things can be better streamlined. Asking the hard questions at the time of taking on the role of executor is paramount in avoiding complications after a death.