Some Thoughts on Keeping Your Death From Being an Undue Burden on Your Heirs
Seniors don’t want to be a burden to their children while they’re alive, and there are ways to reduce their burden after they die.
If you’ve ever served as a “personal representative” (aka, “executor”) for a person who has passed, you know that it can be a long and burdensome process. There are actions that you can take now so that handling your estate is less burdensome. First, of course, you need to write a will, and make sure that it can be found upon your death. You can find law firms that specialize in estate planning which can help you with composing a will plus other tools such as a medical power of attorney, living will, living trust, and, for real estate, a beneficiary deed.
gave unused bicycles to the Optimist Club’s Bicycle Recycle Program, and took several car loads of clothes, dishes, silverware, small appliances and you-name-it to Goodwill. Since I was our own Realtor in the transaction, I cleverly inserted in the contract of sale that “the seller can leave anything he doesn’t want,” which included countless tools and other stuff in our garage. That was in addition to selling most of our furniture to the buyer for $10,000 paid by check outside of closing.
An unbelievable sense of lightness and peace of mind filled Rita and me from the experience of disposing of so much stuff that would have only been a burden to our heirs if we had died while living in that home.
Is a Heat Pump Right for You? Here Is Some Info.
More and more builders and homeowners are looking at the possibility of switching from gas forced air to heat pumps for heating homes and domestic hot water, especially with the huge tax credits offered under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The following is adapted from an article I saw on CustomBuilderOnline.com
How do heat pumps work?
A heat pump moves heat, it doesn’t generate heat.
A furnace combusts fuel — oil, gas, or propane — and that fuel heats a metal component called a heat exchanger. A fan blows air over it, and that’s how a home heats up, explains Matt Rusteika of the Building Decarbonization Coalition.
pump,” says Rusteika.
How much does switching to a heat pump cost?
With rebate incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), switching to a heat pump could be more attainable.
Thanks to the IRA, heat pumps are now affordable for low-income households and we’re seeing a lot of heat pumps in those homes now, says Unger. Rebates under the IRA are as high as $8,000 for the heat pumps and $6,500 for the wiring to support them, he says.
Searching for “estate planning” on the internet produces an abundance of easy-to-understand advice from multiple trust-worthy websites ranging from wikipedia.com to fidelity.com to the American Bar Association, nerdwallet.com and the National Council on Aging. One website I clicked that had excellent and thorough advice was investopedia.com. A good piece of advice I read was to add the person you designate as your personal representative to your bank accounts, the title of your vehicles, and to your credit card accounts, so those are not frozen and unavailable to him or her after your death. And you might want to dispose of excess property that is otherwise cluttering up your basement and garage.
When Rita and I downsized from our 4,000-sq.-ft. home to an 1,100-sq.-ft. apartment, we did our heirs a great favor, because doing so required us to dispose of an immense amount of stuff that was cluttering up our basement. We
Notice that I did not advise you to add your heirs to the title of your house. If you do, your heirs will not only inherit the house, they will also inherit your capital gain when they go so sell it. The better strategy is to create a beneficiary deed naming your heir(s) as the beneficiary. A beneficiary deed, also known as a transfer-on-death (TOD) deed, is a legal document that allows a property owner to transfer ownership of their real estate to a designated beneficiary after they die. The deed is effective upon the owner's death and bypasses the probate process. This approach, like leaving the property to your heirs in your will, allows your heirs to avoid the capital gain on your home, because its value is “stepped up” to the value of the home at the time of your death. If they sell the home soon, they will probably owe zero in capital gains tax.
For more estate planning advice, contact a lawyer specializing in that field. I can recommend one if you’d like.
List With Me & Get Totally Free Local Moving
It has long been my practice — and that of some of my broker associates — that if you hire me to list your current home and to purchase your replacement home, I will not only reduce my commission for selling your current home but provide totally free local moving using our company moving truck (similar to a large U-Haul) and our own moving personnel. We also provide free moving boxes and packing paper/bubble wrap.
using traditional moving companies, you know that our totally free moving can save you thousands of dollars, even for a move within the metro area.
In heat pumps, there is a compressor which moves a liquid/gas through copper pipe coils located outside and inside the home, operating on two laws of physics: gases get hotter under pressure, and heat moves from hot to cold. Compared to combustion, the heat pump doesn’t burn fuel, rather, it uses energy from the pump and compressor to harvest heat and move it.
“Heat goes into the coil, gets pumped through the compressor, the compressor puts it under pressure so it’s very hot. It goes inside, air blows over the inside coil, deposits the heat in the house, comes back outside, and starts the cycle again,” explains Rusteika. During cooling operation, the cycle is merely reversed, pumping heat out of the house.
What
are the negatives of heat pumps?
Heat pump efficiency drops as temperatures get colder, explains Russell Unger, principal at Rocky Mountain Institute. Early heat pumps were not efficient at very cold outdoor temperatures, and some contractors are unaware of the improvement in efficiency that is now common. Nowadays there are cold-weather heat pumps which can draw heat out of the air even at subfreezing outdoor temperatures, says Unger. He points to the state of Maine, which has very cold winters but has the highest percentage of homes heated with heat pumps.
In 2019, Maine Governor Janet Mills announced a goal to install 100,000 heat pumps in the state by 2025. That goal was achieved in July 2023, and now Gov. Mills has a new goal of 175,000 more by 2027.
“When you look for a heat pump, you need to look for a climate-appropriate heat
When a homeowner needs to replace an existing heating system, the wisest move may be to install a heat pump. The Department of Energy estimates that efficient electric heat pumps can save families approximately $500 to $1,000 annually.
Heat pumps are being installed in great numbers in Maine because the marginal cost of switching to a heat pump is pretty small, explains Unger. Where there is a need for both heating and cooling, a heat pump provides a complete solution. The heat pump replaces two separate components — a furnace and A/C compressor — with a single component using the same ducts. And if a homeowner installs solar, earning additional IRA tax credits, there’s great synergy, since the heat pump uses only electricity and uses it very efficiently.
How popular are heat pumps?
Revised building codes have increased the adoption of heat pumps within the last few years. Still, a lot of HVAC contractors remain skeptical. Many of them tried older heat pumps and it didn’t work as well in cold climates, so getting them to revisit the option has proven difficult, but needs to be encouraged, says Unger.
Heat pumps have outpaced furnace sales every month for the past two years, in addition to solar generation increasing about 40% in the last 20 years, and battery sales up 70% in the last 10 years,
“There’s a big shift happening right now. To remain competitive, to get ahead of what customers want, this is something for contractors to start paying attention to,” says Unger.
In the posting of this article online at http://RealEstateToday.substack.com, I have added hyperlinks to Maine’s experience and the rebates available under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Just pack and unpack. We will even pick up your flattened boxes and packing materials after you unpack!
If you have ever priced moving costs
I bought our first moving truck in 2004. We replaced it with a newer truck (above) in 2016. I calculate that we’ve saved clients hundreds of thousands of dollars in moving costs over the years.
OBITUARIES
November 6, 1933 - September 11, 2024
Glen was born in Harlan, IA on November 6, 1933 to Nels P. and Mabel L. Miller. He attended Harlan High School and was a basketball, football and track star. He graduated with the class of 1952. On May 18,1953 he married his High School sweetheart, Edith Morrison in Harlan, IA at the Bethel Baptist Church and honeymooned in beautiful Colorado. On May 18, 2024 they celebrated their 71st Wedding Anniversary together with family and friends.
In Loving
Glen served in the U.S Army from 1955 - 1957 in the Big Red Artillery Division and was in the Active Reserves from 1958 - 1959. Glen’s personal faith in Christ was a very important part of his life. He was involved in many church activities and was a deacon, trustee, a member of the choir and served on various committees. rough the years Glen worked at grocery stores and was on the maintenance crew at Western Electric in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1975 the family moved to Loveland, Colorado where he was employed by Woodward Governor for three years and then they moved to Estes Park where he worked for the Rocky Mountain National Park and also owned his own business, Miller Painting Company painting 88 homes! He also drove a tour bus for the Vacation Inn for many years. He retired at age 62 while living in beautiful Estes Park and later moved to Brighton, Colorado for health reasons.
Glen loved to travel with family and friends by planes, trains, automobiles and cruise ships exploring all 50 states, the Caribbean, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. During his travels he and
Edith would make frequent stops to see their children and grandchildren and during these trips were able to visit all 50 State Capitols, many National and State Parks and Presidential Libraries. ey spent their winters in Arizona visiting family and friends, playing golf and going to golf tournaments. Glen loved to capture all of his travels and adventures on camera and video. rough the years Glen was a fan of many college football teams including the Nebraska Cornhusker’s, Iowa Hawkeyes and CSU. He also rooted for the Denver Broncos, the Colorado Rockies and the Denver Nuggets.
Glen N. Miller went to his Heavenly home on September 11, 2024 at the age of 90. He was preceded in death by his parents, Nels Peter Miller and Mabel Lillie Miller, infant siblings Robert and Ruth; sister, Elaine Nelson; brothers, Gene Miller and Leland Miller; son, Glen Douglas Miller and granddaughter, Elizabeth Bettles.
He is survived by his loving wife, Edith Miller; daughter, Debra Condi (Dave); daughter, Patti Cook; daughter, Ann Doxie (Kevin); son, Brian Miller, 9 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren, 2 greatgreat grandchildren and other family members and friends.
A memorial service and celebration of his life will be held at a later date to be determined. To all who knew and loved Glen, thank you for your love, friendship and support. His beautiful smile, twinkle in his eyes, sense of humor, love for his family, friends and his Lord will be cherished forever.
In Lieu of owers please donate to the American Cancer Society.
MILLER
Glen Nelson Miller
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GREEN HOMES TOUR
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Self-Guided Tour 9am–4pm • $15/adult $25/couple
Beautiful, Comfortable, Healthy Homes
online at:
or register in person at Jefferson Unitarian Church (JUC) • 14350 W. 32nd Ave • Golden, CO 80401
Electric Vehicle Roundup
3pm–5pm
JUC Parking Lot: 14350 W. 32nd Ave • Golden, CO
Reception & Green Expo
4:30 – 6:30pm at JUC FREE Appetizers & Local Beverages Live Music! • Renewable Energy & Sustainable Living Exhibits
“Real people telling real stories about their path to electrification.” – Mark N.
“There’s simply nothing more inspiring than seeing green homes features in person!” — Angela K.
“The tour gave me a lot of ideas for improving my older home.” — Kelsey Z.
