A couple of years ago I got a phone call while I was on vacation from the grandson of a family friend. He had bad news… his grandmother … and my friend… had passed away.  I suddenly realized why he was calling… a promise I had made years before to his grandmother to handle her estate. I was suddenly thrown into a role I didn’t understand or have experience – a manager of assets, real estate and financials with the responsibility of dissolving and distributing.  It was a tough job and there wasn’t an easy checklist to follow.  In many cases I was a detective trying to figure out where assets were or if they even existed.