Litopia

Thank you. Feel silly making a fuss about it. It'll be fine, but inconvenient for a while. Love to you. I really wish I could win the lottery and come over to meet you. I could do a tour of all my Aussie friends & relatives. Actually, you might know one from your time as a lawyer. Zoe Rathus, lecturer in law at Griffith University. Specialising in Family Law.

Wouldn't a lotto win be lovely, lol! Afraid I don't know Zoe, but I didn't specialise in family law (I specialised in property, wills and probate)

Another handy field (laced with land mines). My dad was due to inherit a large Brown Stone house by Central Park from his uncle. 3 days before Uncle Billy died he changed his will and left everything to an Italian lodger who'd been there for a few months. On the new Will, Billy's signature was not his, but just his name written in capital letters. Turned out the lodger came from a mafia family.

Dad never contested it. But you must have seen all sorts during your time. Money/Wills seems to bring out the worst in people.

Oh geez, that's scary, I don't blame your Dad! You see a darker side of human nature with probate, I wish I could find a way to make that interesting! I've tried, still looking.

I remember one family going from the funeral to our office! Just unapologetic greed.

I think most families have horrid Will stories to tell. There is a case to be made for gathering up some of the best ones and retelling them with humour. Showing people the folly of their ways, perhaps.

Unrelated to Wills, I toyed with the idea of collecting stories of expat adventures. The best one I heard was of a girl in Greece who slept with a local farmer. He died in her bed. She didn't have her papers in order, so kept his corpse under her bed. At night she dragged him out and stuck him on the terrace.