Newspaper Page Text
Health and Wellness at die Crossroads, July 30,1997
Page 6
Legal matters are important part of death
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Health and WeUncn Staff
Dealing with legal matters during a time of
grief is not an easy task, especially if the
deceased has not left a will or specific
instructions of how to handle these concerns.
Death (Continued from page 1)
support groups available to those who have lost a
child or who have lost a spouse to a dread disease
such as cancer.
All of these items and others are important. They
must be dealt with, some within minutes to hours of
the death, by survivors. Some of these matters can be
made more easy to handle by preparations now. Wills
can be brought up to date, other decisions can be
made and left to survivors, cemetery lots can be select
ed and bought, even the entire funeral service can be
preplanned. All of these decisions help make the first
few hours after death easier for those who survive.
Other decisions, such as how the final few hours
may be handled or what financial arrangements are
made through investments and insurance can be made
now and changed as necessary as time passes before
death. Again, these decisions and any accumulation and
directions for distribution of wealth make it easier for
the survivors to proceed with the wishes of the person
who is at the point of death or who has just died.
Because these decisions are difficult, and require
some preparation, some thought and frequently, some
legal advice, this issue of Health and Wellness at the
Crossroads features several stories which will help
with those plans.
Tips for life after the funeral
From Staff Reports
The funeral service is
over. A few weeks, months
or even years have passed
since the death. It’s time for
things to get back to nor
mal, right?
Well, why that persis
tent empty, helpless feel
ing? Or feeling of anger?
Once the norm is deviated
from how do you know
when you’ve returned?
Helping those who have
experienced loss through
death is what Carol
Moyses, grief counselor,
does best.
Moyses, whose office is
located at the Houston
Healthcare Complex
Pavilion along Watson
Boulevard, talks to people
who are coping with grief
after the service is over and
the friends have gone home.
“Everybody has different
time frames for grieving,”
said Moyses. “What may be
enough time for some is not
enough for others.
“Another important fac
tor is gender,” she added,
saying men usually have a
tougher time dealing with
death n women.
“W f rT, en have always
taken care of the emotional
tone of families and rela
tionships while men usually
don’t,” said Moyses. “So,
just because men don’t talk
about their feelings doesn’t
mean they don’t have them.
They grieve internally.”
In most cases this is OK,
said Moyses. It just a male’s
way of handling the situation.
One thing done in the past
that is not practiced today is
the ritual of pulling shades in
a home and wearing mourn
ing clothes, all black, after a
death. Moyses believes this
was not such a bad practice
because it allowed time for a
family to grieve.
“Now, we want people
to get on with it, get over it
real quick,” she said.
“We’re a hurry up society
and I don’t think some of
that is good and healthy”
Grief is handled in
stages, said Moyses, such as
denial, anger, depression.
A depression stage that
“goes on too long” is what
concerns Moyses.
“Where I get concerned
is when a person goes
maybe six months and still
can’t get out and really par
ticipate,” said Moyses.
That is why people are encouraged to have a
will that states what they want done with theft
possessions, or, in some cases, who they want to
be appointed as guardian to their minor children.
“If a person has died that has a will, the fami
ly will need to contact an attorney so the proper
steps can be taken,” said attorney Jim Geiger.
If there is no will, the state may step in to
decide how things will be handled, he said.
“Whatever that persons owns at death has to
be passed over either by will or inheritance,”
Geiger said.
A will usually makes things operate a lot
faster and easier when it comes to the legal
realm of things.
Wills are important, he said, to help sur
vivors receive insurance benefits and other
items, such as tides, in a timely manner.
And, the important decision of who will
become guardian for minor children needs to
be stated in a legal document such as a will, he
said.
Houston County Probate Judge Janice Spires
agreed.
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“Young families who have younger children
need to talk about who they want to take care
of the child or children in case something hap
pens to them,” said Spires.
If that is not specified in a legal document by
the deceased, a court will appoint a guardian.
And, while the court makes every attempt to
make good decisions in what is best for the
child, it still may not be a decision the deceased
parents) would have agreed with.
Spires’ office handles probate procedures of
wills in Houston County.
After a will is filed with her office, legal
notices are posted in the county legal organ for
the required amount of time.
The judge advises people who have a will to
let someone know where it is located.
There are times when a person passes away
and family members know there is a will, but do
not know how to locate it, she said.
Spires’ office is located in the courthouse
along Carroll Street in downtown Perry.
Questions concerning probating of a will can
be answered by her office staff at 987-2770.
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