Jack Riepe

Hello, friends. If I had another way to do this, I wouldn't be going the GoFundMe route. But, it is what it is. I think I'm comfortable asking for help because my mission is in the service of a great man, and our legal system doesn't make the probate process affordable for heirs of decedents without a will.

CUTTING TO THE CHASE

This GoFundMe is for legal/administrative fees (that I cannot handle) associated with the probate process for my father's estate. This setback is completely unexpected, as my father never shared financial matters with me. I didn't know how complex things were. The probate process is necessary to determine how any financial responsibilities of the estate will be settled.

My father was the extraordinarily talented Jack Riepe. He left this world on October 18, 2023. He dedicated his life to entertaining others, at any cost. He did not live extravagantly, but whatever he had, he gave. He always chose his art over pragmatism. And he always chose his readers over everything else. It made him happy to do so.

I am the only heir, but there was no will. There's no big inheritance. There's a truck, a computer, and a literary legacy. That's enough for me. 

His reason for living was work, and dying just wasn't on his agenda despite his poor state of health. There isn't much room or time to grieve, as his affairs must be settled. He may have died, but his business affairs have not.

THE MISSION: to settle the estate as soon as possible, so I can then determine if the estate has the resources to fulfill any remaining business obligations.

I hope there's money to be put back into his publishing efforts, but there's no way to know without legal assistance.

THE OBSTACLE: Even as his only child, I have no legal authority over anything Jack owned because there was no will.

I have no insight to the full nature of his financial obligations--business or otherwise.

THE BIGGER OBSTACLE: I personally have no ability to pay for legal assistance / the fees associated with attaining legal authority to retain / distribute / sell anything he owns in order to settle anything outstanding.

A no-will probate process costs between $1000 and $5000.

Without a will or estate lawyer to guide me through the probate process, I can't even forward his mail.

I can't close his bank account and convert it into an estate account.

I can't sell or drive his truck that's now sitting in my driveway. Can't transfer the title (when we're able to find it...)

I'm praying I find a way to keep his computer, as it's full of his priceless and irreplaceable work. His computer is more sacred to me than his ashes, as it contains his spirit and his remaining contributions to the literary world.

Would it be nice to sell the truck and pay some of my own bills? Sure. Am I expecting that to happen? No. That truck will never be mine. It will be for settling his affairs, I suppose.

WHAT MAKES THIS CASE UNIQUE

My father sold a product that can NOT be replicated--creative gold. There's no more of it now. Just what's in those two boxes in his office. I've got to somehow try and square up any unfulfilled book orders. I don't know how possible that is, as I had NOTHING to do with his business, but I'll try.

He just became too sick to handle things after a while, and he didn't want to burden anyone by asking for help.

WHY I NEED LEGAL HELP INSTEAD OF TEACHING MYSELF ON YOUTUBE

I have a full-time job as an occupational therapist for inner-city children with disabilities, am the primary household earner, and I have two young kids at home. It's not my area of expertise and my energy and time are incredibly limited.

WHY I CAN'T AFFORD THE LEGAL HELP REQUIRED TO SETTLE HIS ESTATE

Like many Americans, I'm struggling with student loans and had to overpay for my home due to a VERY low-inventory housing market this year.

We pay BIG health insurance premiums because our youngest is prone to seizures and other medical issues, per her most recent neurologist visit in September. My trusty Volvo died and now I'm stuck with a used Jeep Cherokee and astronomical car payments each month. I took today off work to try and handle Jack's affairs. Taking a day off costs me roughly $300 and now, we're going to struggle to decide which bill won't get paid as a result.

(And I didn't take the student loans for funzies. A graduate degree is REQUIRED for OT licensure. I've been an OT for 10 years. And this job is a labor of love. It's the right job for me, but I'll be paying the U.S. Dept of Education for the privilege of doing it until I die. Luckily for my kids, the student loan debt will die with me.)

THE LONG-TERM MISSION

While I can't promise anything, I think one day I'll be able to make his literary work more readily accessible, in whatever form that takes. That will cost money, but one day I may have it. (I won't be doing any sort of pre-sale structure for any unpublished work. I'll have to fund the printing up front, which appears to be the safer way to go.)

Any funds raised here will be for one purpose: legal / administrative expenses associated with settling my father's estate, so that I can continue keeping my own family afloat and begin to strategize how to keep my father's literary legacy alive.

FINAL CLARIFICATION

I'm not requesting funds to settle debts. 

I'm requesting funds to honor my father by settling his estate, so I can THEN make sure his literary legacy is preserved. 

He had a company. I was not involved in it. He got sick, he passed away, and there are  numerous orders to fulfill. 

I can’t get these orders fulfilled until the estate is settled. The estate settlement is a required process I cannot afford.

No one is getting rich—least of all me—but if you paid for his work, you should receive his work. His fans were very important to him. I want to do the honorable thing.

I am designating a bank account for these funds, that I don't use for personal expenses.

In closing, if a donation is not in the cards for you, I sincerely hope I've provided some insight as to why we all need to make or wills/trust accounts as soon as possible.

It's been a painful learning experience, but I'm not mad at my father. He just wanted to do what he did best--make people laugh.

Whether or not you can donate, you have my heartfelt thanks for reading this and for being a part of our lives.