Where would you start?

Written by: Jim Courtney, Co-Author

Sometimes something happens in your life that changes how you see the world.  When our Mother passed away suddenly, we were left to resolve our parents' estate.  Dad had passed away four years earlier and during that stressful time, we simply asked Mom what she wanted and we did it. Now my sister and I were alone with no one to ask but each other...

Our parents had taken a number of wonderful steps working with legal and financial professionals. But there were many questions that we kept finding and wondering why did we not talk about these prior to need?  The honest answer was we did not know the questions.

The change in how we looked at the world began the day Mom passed away and the funeral director asked, In which hospital was you mother born? My thought was you have to be joking!! He said no matching birth and death certificates is required by law.

The days continued and the questions kept coming from all directions.  One day a friend and his wife asked, How we were doing? That day I was not feeling good about having so many unanswered questions stating we were not doing well and talked about all the questions.  He asked what we did as we found questions.  I replied my professional friends were helping us.  He replied, You are lucky.  You know where to go. I wouldn't know where to start.  Would you take the time to capture the questions and write a book...

Before taking on such a journey, having never written more than a class paper, I asked professional friends if this was a real need? They stated yes, too much time and too many families have suffered because they did not know the right questions to ask. As the journey unfolded to capture the questions and with the help of many, The Legacy Workbook took form and included information for all times in our life but especially those times when we are truly in need.

Thank you to the many friends who have given freely of their time, energy and encouragement to help create a work that has the guidance and wisdom to help each one of us on our journey through life.