FROM STEPHANIE
Two new things this week. The first is a page where you can say your person's name: anyone who died, pets included. Their name is enough. A photo, their song, and anything you want people to know are welcome too. A human reads every entry before it appears, and nothing on that page is for sale.
The second is the living will builder, down in the practical section. It's free to build in your browser, same as the will builder.
One deep read
Headstones and Grave Markers: What They Cost
Real headstone prices by type, what the cemetery charges just to set the stone, the rules that limit what you're allowed to buy, and the government marker every veteran gets at no charge. Nobody prices this until they have to. Price it now.
One law update
Maryland gets transfer-on-death deeds on October 1
Starting October 1, Maryland homeowners can record a transfer-on-death deed: you sign and record it now, keep full ownership of your home while you're alive, and the house passes straight to the person you named when you die, skipping probate entirely. Maryland becomes the 35th US jurisdiction to allow one. If you or your parents own a Maryland home, this single document can spare your family the probate process on the biggest thing most people own.
One practical thing
Write your living will this week
A living will records which treatments you want, and which you don't, if you're dying or permanently unconscious and can't say so yourself. It's the piece most people mean when they say advance directive, and the one most people never get around to writing. MORTL's builder asks the questions in plain language and assembles the document as you answer. The signing block follows your state's witness and notary rules. It's free to build in your browser, and Premium downloads the finished file.
One question answered
"Who gets the inheritance without a will, the son or the husband?"
A real reader asked this week. The answer: usually the husband, and it's rarely winner-take-all. If the son is also the husband's son, most states give the surviving husband everything or close to it. If the son is from another relationship, nearly every state splits the estate: the husband takes a share set by statute and the son inherits what remains. Community property states change the math, and anything with a named beneficiary skips this entirely. The exact shares are in your state's intestacy statute, and your state's guide cites it.
Got a question of your own? Ask it at mortl.com/ask. We answer for real, and the best ones end up here.
Forward this to somebody who still thinks they'll live forever.
You're going to die. Let's talk about it.
MORTL · mortl.com