South Carolina experienced a major hail storm last May.  I was in Korea at the time, but when I returned to the states in September I was besieged by roofing contractors wanting me to file an insurance claim for a roof replacement.  I finally relented and got a new roof for the price of my insurance deductible.

The house I jointly own with my two brothers (well, we own the mortgage to be precise) also received storm damage.  This house was purchased jointly with my parents and all our names are on the deed.  The mortgage itself only included the name of my father and younger brother Greg.  I was the executor of my parent’s estate, and the probate attorney advised that since we brothers were all on the deed under the law the house passed to us so it was not included in the dispensation rendered by the probate court. We’ve been renting the house out to my son ever since.

I had my son contact the insurance company to send out an adjuster, but they refused to deal with him since his name is not on the policy.  So I asked my older brother Keith who lives in California to contact brother Greg who is a long distance trucker (and doesn’t use email) and have him talk to the insurance folks.  He must have done so, because a few weeks ago an adjuster came to the house and shortly thereafter a check for $14,000 came in the mail.  Except the check was issued in my deceased father’s name.

I had closed all the estate bank accounts at the conclusion of probate three years ago, so there is no way to cash a check issued to my dead dad.  Greg contacted the insurance people to have them re-issue the check in his name, but they refused to do so. And then they cancelled the policy because the house is not owner occupied.  Fuckers. They did say they “might” consider issuing the check to the estate executor.  Of course, I’m in Korea and have no way to prove I’m the executor having not had the foresight to bring such documentation with me.  I was given a name to contact at the insurance company and I’ve stayed up late and gotten up early the last two days to do so only to be answered by voice mail.  I may have to enlist the assistance of the probate attorney although I am not so naive as think that will happen for free.  Or maybe I’ll just go all American and sue their sorry asses, which I suppose won’t be any easier from Korea either.  A major pain in the ass is what this is for sure.

As if that were not enough frustration it’s also time to get my taxes done.  Now, I’m resigned to letting Uncle Sam and his cousin in South Carolina take their annual bite out of my ass.  But facilitating the prerequisite document transfer has proven to more daunting than I expected.  My accountant in SC sent me the intake form via email, of which I’m instructed to complete and email back along with all my other tax related paperwork. Which would not be a problem if I had access to the a working printer/scanner.  Alas, the one at the apartment hasn’t worked since our move and I can’t figure out why.  And the one at my office stopped working several weeks ago and trying to get that repaired has proven to be a bureaucratic nightmare.  Not even going to try and relate those events because I’m already pissed enough.

As soon as I complete this post (even I can’t ramble on forever) I’m going to head out to Yongsan Garrison and purchase a new printer with a scanner function at the PX.  Then I’ll lug the damn thing home and get to work on them taxes.

To end this post on a more positive note, I spoke with the woman who would be my boss were I to be re-employed with my former organization.  Although she couldn’t officially make a job offer until my hiring package has been approved by the commander, said package has been submitted.  So, there’s a hurdle successfully, well, hurdled.  Now, I can wait for more news in the hopefully not too distant future.

Also, I’d rather be alive than dead.  So there’s that.