Videos Prevent Feuds

Videos Prevent Feuds FARM HOME Miscellaneous 31-2-5 One way to prevent family feuds after you've passed on is to act now with a video camera - while you still can. Simply make a video of yourself explaining your will and why you made the decisions you did. You can soften the blow to your loved ones and express your affection for them, while making your end-of-life wishes clear. This is especially important for newly diagnosed Alzheimer's patients who may want to create messages while they're still able to articulate their thoughts. A peace-loving grandmother in Victoria, B.C., recently turned this idea into a business called "Legacy Films." Barbara Strachan films people who want to leave something gentler behind than the cold, hard language of their legal will. Making this type of video provides an opportunity to emphasize how you want your remains dealt with, give reasons for your decisions, give advice to surviving relatives, and can even be a way to patch things up with estranged family members. This "voice from the grave" allows you to make it clear who's to receive what in terms of property and possessions and, more importantly, why. If done properly, it can allow the bereaved to avoid arguments over aspects of the will that they may not otherwise have fully understood. "If the family members have not visited with the writer of the will recently, they may wonder if the person was fully mentally alert when making the decisions," Strachan says. There are dramatized examples on Strachan's website at www.familyvideolinks.com.

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