Introduction
Challenges are part and parcel of the daily living and most of the times they come unprecedented to an extent that if one is not adequately prepared to deal with them they can cost us a lot of previous successes. It is the case with Linda Grump. She is very old but has managed to have a very successful cattle and llama ranch but following her physical injury after breaking her limbs, she is left in a very uncomfortable position. The worst part of it is that she has nobody she can rely on to take care of her property even after she is gone, neither has she put in place plans to have somebody do that for her. The only person who can do that is Monty, who also has other commitments to attend to. Monty feels like he can do it given that he is her only relative, but he has reservations about this responsibility.
Monty’s Concerns
The fact that Monty will have to halt his master’s learning for a while is a big problem since it will interfere with his education. It means he is going to lag behind, and it may even affect his profession in a way or the other. In light of these circumstances, he can opt for online classes so that he can attend his classes from the ranch but when he has practical sessions he can go for them from his school.
The advantage of online classes is that they are very flexible, and they give him the opportunity of designing his schedule the way he wants to, such that he can balances his work on the ranch with his studies. As for the moving expenses, he should talk with his aunt so that she chips in since he is moving from Alaska entirely for her sake.
Similarly, when it comes to managing the ranch, it would only be fair that his aunt compensates him and makes her promises to him valid. The validity of her promises can be confirmed when she makes a solid agreement between her and her nephew in a contract. In the contract, she would stipulate the amount of money that she owes him for maintaining the ranch, and that should happen to the ranch when she passes on.
The advantage of a written agreement as in the case of a contract is that it provides some reference point from which to make decisions in the future or even solve controversies in case they arise (Blum & Bushaw, 2012). In line with this, Monty did not mention the fact that his family life would be affected, let alone leaving his circle of friends.
As such, it would just be fair that even if he is moving out of Alaska for his aunt’s sake, she compensates him for the expenses that he would incur in Colorado, especially if the living standards are high. In a nutshell, she may be his aunt but it is also worth considering that fulfilling her promises is an important part of the deal.
Linda Grump’s concerns
The situation in which Linda finds herself is very unfortunate but suppose she had a contingency plan, her choices would not be very constrained as they are now. She might be physically capable of managing the ranch herself but at some point she will have to let go of her responsibilities because of her age, or even worse, when she dies.
She should be resting and aging gracefully, not working. It was just a matter of time before reality caught up with her and suppose she had the foresight, she would have already implemented a plan to secure her hard earned successful life. Either way, she still has to ensure that she protects her wealth even after she is gone (Blum, 2007).
Similarly, it is important that Monty makes it clear how he feels about the responsibilities that he is expected to take and the kind of compensation that he would like. Once they have agreed on the terms and the conditions of managing the ranch, they should put it down in writing as a way of solidifying their agreement (Burton, 2009).
Solidifying the deal is just a section of the contract; legal enforceability is the other integral part (Burton, 2009). It is because when Lind makes the promise such that a contract comes into being, it is a fundamental role of a contract law to ensure that the promise is upheld.
Conclusion
Linda finds herself in such a position because she had not planned well for her retirement. She should have hired somebody whom she had trained to take care of her wealth such that she does not have to assign all the responsibilities to her nephew abruptly, therefore inconveniencing him by interrupting every aspect of his life. Opting for another person to take care of the ranch earlier under the care of his nephew may have just been the best option she might have chosen.
References
Blum, B. A. (2007). Contracts: Examples & explanations. New York: Aspen Publishers.
Blum, B. A., & Bushaw, A. C. (2012). Contracts: Cases, discussion, and problems. New York: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Burton, S. J. (2009). Elements of contract interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
