Fuzzy: The Midmarch Council
Henry clears his throat and rehearses the augments he has heard.
”As I see it there is a difference between a formal will and the expressed wishes of an individual. A formal document lodged with the House of Abadar should always bear more weight than a word spoken, perhaps casually.
So, unless you tell me differently, a written will that has been lodged with the House of Abadar, shall take precedence – UNLESS priests of three different churches are content that any other instruction, written or verbal, is legitimate and should be allowed to supersede the written document.
Second, I suggest that the implementation of the will should take place no less than one month after death and no more than two months. The one exception will be if there is a clause in the will authorising the sale of possessions to fund a Raise Dead or Reincarnate spell. In which case that will be implemented immediately. Should the Raise Dead or Reincarnate fail, then the rest of the will shall be implemented as normal.
Should the deceased return before that deadline, a court of priests from three different faiths shall be convened to satisfy themselves that all is in order and, if so, they will suspend implementation of the will until death occurs again.
That should meet all the concerns I have heard expressed concerning those matters. Ethankos, it is not my desire to impose any given religious philosophy on any of our people, so I have no immediate intention to ban reincarnation or other interventions with a longer duration. I have to say, in that should a person return to life, after their will has been executed - then I believe that the will should stand.
However, I am unsure about how you think we should manage the estates of those who fall without leaving a will. In my case there is a long document describing ownership and responsibilities within the House leMaistre, drawn up by Brother Bartholomew with Mother Beatrix named as primary executrix. However, a copy of that can be lodged with the house of Abadar, but is not a will per se.
I suspect House Lebeda-Ondari will have something similar, Valoria’s family are very well-organised. In some cases it is fairly obvious - Dara has a child, Sara, who must be cared for. In others cases, less so. WSM is co-owned by Kendrick and Domitius - what happens if one of them should die without leaving a will? Or V&A shipping? Adoven, Vik, their child and Percy are all involved in that.
And if there is no obvious heir? Property and possessions come to the state? Some of you suggest that they should become state possessions, other of you appear to think the state should become guardians and be prepared to return them later, should the deceased suddenly reappear."