This is about as social as I get now ...

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legal eagles

If you'd told me I'd start 2021 by retaining not just one lawyer, but two I would have told you...yeah, probably checks out.

(Interestingly, I recently learned there is a distinction between the terms "attorney" and "lawyer" and I may, as it turns out, be using the wrong term, but eh, fuck it).

Not to be so dramatic about it all of course. Lawyer No. 1 is for the trust that C. and I are finally putting together. Now that we have assets to speak of (namely, the house and the inheritance from my mother), I want to make sure everything is taken care of in the event of an emergency.

(To be clear, it's not like we have major assets. But, still.)

I keep thinking back to that week after my mother fell ill again and there was that one night in the ER when we weren't even sure she'd make it until morning and I was forced to make horrible decisions regarding life-saving measures. In the days that followed I scrambled around town between classes trying to get legal documents signed and notarized for her trust. I yelled at people on the phone and cried a lot and my Apple watch kept beeping to alert me that my heart rate was alarmingly high.

Then, more recently, there was that moment on the bathroom floor when I truly thought for a moment that I was dying and worried that I was leaving behind a fucked-up state of affairs for C.

So now we are doing it all. A will, advance health directives, the trust, etc. I would hate to have him lose up to 40 percent of everything in probate court. It's not cheap though--but I know it's vital.

The other lawyer is in regards to a possible inheritance. Recently I was contacted by a third cousin (whom I've never met, nor did I know about) who needed to inform me that another distant cousin (whom I also did not know in any way shape or form) had recently died and left behind a relatively big estate (ranch, tons of cars, livestock, etc). The ranch is in Texas, not far from where my BioMom lived.

This second cousin is in the process of tracking down heirs to the estate. Seems the other cousin didn't have a will or trust or any children or a spouse. In Texas, intestate succession dictates that the assets are distributed among surviving heirs. This person who contacted me, my cousin, didn't know about any of this—or know him—until the ranch hand's wife tracked him down as a relative (on Facebook of all places).

ANYWAY. I guess I'm a surviving heir (this second cousin was my mother's first cousin—but, honestly, I have no idea if she even knew him because apparently this entire branch of the family was estranged from everyone else).

To complicate matters, however, because my biological mother gave up custody of me, I will need to provide my original birth certificate, which is sealed by the state of Texas. I've already applied to have it unsealed. I may also need to provide adoption papers (I'm not even sure if adoption papers exist??), etc.

That's where the second lawyer comes in. I'm hiring her to represent me in the case. We had a lengthy conversation last week and she said she didn't think I wasn't entitled to my share of the inheritance, but that the other law firm would likely put the onus of proof on me.

It won't be cheap, of course, but the possible inheritance is sizable-ish enough to warrant it.

And may I pause here to reflect on how fucking weird it is to receive a call from a previously unknown relative who is phoning to let you know that another previously unknown relative has maybe left you some money.

All of this has, interestingly enough (for me anyway) sent me down an ancestry rabbit hole. My mother had a sister that the cousin didn't even know about. I gave him what little information I had about her but he's still not been able to find her. P never wanted me to meet her--didn't even want anyone to tell her when she passed away.