Monday 12 March 2018

We make some progress...

Based on my current experiences I would give you all a piece of advice which is that when someone asks you to (a) be a godparent to their child and/or (b) be an executor on their will please think about what this might entail before you glibly reply in the affirmative.  Neither should be undertaken lightly.

Today I have come to realise that angels come in all shapes and sizes and Mum and I were lucky enough to encounter some today.  I had set myself the target of sorting out the car so that it was transferred into Mum's sole name then taking her to the bank to sort out the accounts - just two things which had been depriving me of sleep and which, you would have thought, should have been straightforward.

My Mum and Dad had been reasonably savvy with most things, Mum in particular, had been putting their house in order over a period of time but it never occurred to us that having their little Nissan Note in joint names on the log book could have potentially caused us such angst.  So much so that it appeared that Dad's estate (or lack of it) would need to go to Probate.

As I was about to disintegrate into a snivelling snotty heap in the cafe of the Tax Office having been sent on yet another wild goose chase a man appeared from nowhere to speak to mum - he was a kind and gentle man who told us his wife was an English Probate Lawyer and that we could have a quick chat with her and pick her brains.  I viewed him with suspicion as I thought he was just touting for business but his wife was a lovely lady called Marion (I need to find her card so I can give her full name and contact details) who suggested going to Mum's local Mukhtar to see if he would sign something allowing us to get the car in Mum's name and negating the need for Probate.  She was to be our first Angel of the day.

We went off to the Mukhtar's office in Emba and waited in a freezing cold office for about an hour waiting for him to turn up.  When he did he said he had no idea what we needed but then proceeded to fill in a form which the receptionist had given me for the sale of a vehicle.  The Mukhtar seemed to say we could sort of 'fudge' this form to fit but I was not so sure so disheartened we decided to tackle the bank accounts next and I nipped in to pick up Dad's passport from Angel Guardians and Maureen seeing my deflated appearance asked what was wrong and when I explained about the sodding car she called down a colleague called Nicos who checked out the Mukhtar's dodgy paperwork and told me to go off, get an insurance covernote in Mum's name, call in to the Citizens' Advice and get the car transferred over asap (no passing go and no collecting 200 quid).  He was my second Angel of the day.

We spend the next two hours getting a bank account sorted for Mum and making sure the existing joint bank account was still accessible then shot off Atlantic insurance and grabbed the covernote and shot off to the Citizens' Advice where we played dumb, handed over the paperwork, held our breath and crossed our fingers, nearly lost it when the man queried the names on the form and then pointed out Mum's name was incorrectly spelt somewhere on the system.  I got mum to hand over the 8 euros 54 cents and we dashed out of the office before he had time to change his mind.  That bloody bloody sodding car was now in mum's sole name and it was insured and I might just now get a decent night's sleep.

Dealing with a bereavement is difficult enough without the added angst of paperwork.  I don't know which is worse - people who are unhelpful or people who you think are being helpful and then you end up going round and round in ever decreasing circles.  Poor Mum who has always done things by the book looked like she was going to be tied into knots simply by being honest.

Anyway in the end we managed to get the most important things sorted and we have had confirmation that her old age pension has been adjusted and will now be paid into her new bank account.  It may not seem much but that is a huge weight off of both of our shoulders.


Our final Angels Jane and John (seen here last September at John's 50th) have returned to the UK today with Lin.  We cannot thank them enough for their help over the last two terrible weeks.  This is not exactly the holiday that they could have ever dreamed of but it was a great comfort to John and I to know that they were there with Mum when she needed them most.

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