Can the dead vote? Non-political

[Mike Henderson]

Sage advice! [I would even consider adding your adult children to property deeds]..

There are some problems that can occur when children are put on a deed with the parent(s). I would advise anyone to get help from an attorney before you do that.

Mike

[Ronald Blue]

There are some problems that can occur when children are put on a deed with the parent(s). I would advise anyone to get help from an attorney before you do that.

Mike

There are other ways to accomplish the same thing. As Mike says check with an attorney who's knowledgeable of estate planning in the state you reside.

[Jim Koepke]

There are other ways to accomplish the same thing. As Mike says check with an attorney who's knowledgeable of estate planning in the state you reside.

Or the state where the property is located if you have property outside of your state of residence.

jtk

[Brian Elfert]

It may be a local or state wide situation.

It seems denying the spouse of the deceased access to their account would be a cruel practice. Anyone who lost their car or home due to not being able to pay down their loan(s) would have grounds for a lawsuit.

Many of the recurring payments in my household are paid automagically on a set date every month. Would those also be stopped? If my spouse died, would all of my utilities be cut off?

My parents have all but one bank account set up as joint accounts. My mother has had a savings account with a few thousand dollars for decades so she has money in case the joint accounts are frozen if my father dies first.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

There are other ways to accomplish the same thing. As Mike says check with an attorney who's knowledgeable of estate planning in the state you reside.

In 1970, when I checked into NAS Meridian, MS, I was informed that my wife and I would be notified when our meeting with an attorney there on the base would occur. At that meeting we were recommended to allow that attorney to assist us into generating a POA for the following reason. At that time, according to the attorney, in the State of Mississippi, in the event of a death where there was no POA or will for the husband, a wife would not inherit at the time of his death. Instead, the state could cease all assets including the children, sell properties and put them into a fund that the oldest male child would inherit when he became of age. My wife has had a complete power of attorney since early 1971 as a result.

Check with an attorney licensed and practicing in the state where you reside!

[Brian Elfert]

Voting is secret. Once the ballot is removed from the envelope, there's no way to know which way that person voted. If you had a recount, you could not back out that vote.

When votes are challenged in a recount, it's usually because of the way the ballot was marked. But there's no way to tie a ballot back to a person.

Right, I forgot that ballots have no way to trace them back to the voter once they are cast. The case here in Minnesota hinged on stray marks and such. The whole thing was silly with people on both sides trying to interpret the intent of the voter. Each party would challenge ballots that benefited the opposition, but of course they didn't challenge if it benefited their candidate. It was months and millions of tax dollars before a winner was declared.

[Mike Henderson]

I can actually guarantee it does tie to the voter/ballot here in my district because I accidentally got a replacement ballot two elections ago after I had already submitted the first one received. Same for my spouse. I called the county election board to discuss and they invalidated the new ballots and restored the ones already submitted to being valid. That said, I suspect that the actual voting data is not tied to the ballot barcode/number used for insuring that only one ballot per registered voter is valid.

They knew you submitted your ballot, but once your ballot was in the system, it is impossible to tie your ballot to you. How you voted is secret.

Perhaps you live in a place where the mail-in ballots are not entered into the system until election day (not opened until election day). In that case, they would have your envelope with the ballot in it, and the envelope is marked with your name and address.

But the actual ballot does not carry any identifying marks. No where in this country is it possible to identify how a voter voted after the fact (legally).

Mike

[Jim Becker]

They knew you submitted your ballot, but once your ballot was in the system, it is impossible to tie your ballot to you. How you voted is secret.

Not so sure on that because it literally had a barcode on it. The second one that arrived and was subsequently invalidated also had the barcode but with a different number which is how the nice lady on the phone was able to see both in the system and change the validity status. But yes, in Pennsyltucky, there is no pre-canvassing (which needs to change) which means the ballots are not counted until the polls close at 8pm on election day.

[Bill Dufour]

In California cemetery land can not be condemned and forced to be sold, even for public projects. I guess they are worried dead seniors will get up and vote them out of office if their rest is disturbed.
City wanted to widen a main street and widen an intersection in my hometown. Cemetery had a well in the middle of the project. The actual cemetery was about one half mile away so the city was surprised. They had to ask nicely if they could dig a new well add new pumps, electrical, some new pipes, etc. for free.
In California a water well is a major asset. Not something to be taken lightly. People have been killed over water in the west.
Bill D

[Jerry Bruette]

Shouldn't joint accounts be set up as Payable On Death(POD) or with right of survivor ship? And a vehicle title should have both names on it but it should be Mr. Brown Or Mrs. Brown and not Mr. Brown And Mrs. Brown.

[Bill Dufour]

[ should be Mr. Brown Or Mrs. Brown and not Mr. Brown And Mrs. Brown.[/QUOTE]

I think that should read Mr. Bruette or Mrs. Bruette. Your milage may vary
Bill D

[Jerry Bruette]

[ should be Mr. Brown Or Mrs. Brown and not Mr. Brown And Mrs. Brown.

I think that should read Mr. Bruette or Mrs. Bruette. Your milage may vary
Bill D[/QUOTE]
As long as it's not Mr. Bruette and Mrs. Brown we'll be OK.

[Jim Becker]

Shouldn't joint accounts be set up as Payable On Death(POD) or with right of survivor ship? And a vehicle title should have both names on it but it should be Mr. Brown Or Mrs. Brown and not Mr. Brown And Mrs. Brown.

Yes, account ownership should be setup to permit clean transfer, but...individual state laws can come into play if there is no valid and current estate planning. (Will, Living Will, DPoA) Even folks who do not have substantial assets need these documents to insure things are handled cleanly and with the least disruption.

[Lee Schierer]

Yes, account ownership should be setup to permit clean transfer, but...individual state laws can come into play if there is no valid and current estate planning. (Will, Living Will, DPoA) Even folks who do not have substantial assets need these documents to insure things are handled cleanly and with the least disruption.

I concur!!!

[Ronald Blue]

Yes, account ownership should be setup to permit clean transfer, but...individual state laws can come into play if there is no valid and current estate planning. (Will, Living Will, DPoA) Even folks who do not have substantial assets need these documents to insure things are handled cleanly and with the least disruption.

Where you reside obviously makes a huge difference. When my father passed there was nothing that needed to be done for his estate. It passed to my brother and I and nothing else was required. No court filing required for a will or anything. Estate planning here simply means have the paperwork in order so as to not need any actions afterwards.