u/USMCArtyFO

I know IAEM has an upcoming webinar on applying and such. However, I am a non-standard EM for a private non-profit.

That said, I have more than enough EM hours, and have both my Bachelors and Masters degree in EM. The thing that confuses the hell out of me is how you have to decide what coursework counts towards each area. With having so many degree programs now, how has IAEM not just come out with a list of college courses and where they fit?

Anywho, I have a local CEM that I have a good relationship with who said they would help with the process. Just seems strange to be so ambiguous with what is needed, while saying you basically need to submit your packet and “hope” it is accepted.

Not sure that I would ever go for my CEM, as I really don’t think I have the exposure to what I need to get it. Though, in the event I ever did, it seems that saving your bachelor’s degree is recommended for that. I do also have some certificate coursework completed from UCSD’s OSHA extension campus since I am also our EHS manager.

As for the test, I am too worried as I test well. Just would need to study the material to be fresh.

My mother died recently after a significant period of physical and cognitive decline.

For context, my parents had an older estate plan that essentially divided things between my sibling and me. My father died several years ago. After that, my mother was free to change her estate plan, and I completely understand that she had the legal right to do so if that was genuinely what she wanted.

The part I’m struggling with is what happened near the end of her life.

In her last several months, she was extremely frail, used a wheelchair, had major memory problems, and had very limited ability to use a phone or have extended conversations. I could still have basic conversations with her, and she could say things like “I love you,” so I’m not claiming she understood absolutely nothing. But her functioning was clearly very diminished.

People who were seeing her regularly described periods when she seemed only minimally aware, including within about a week of when new estate documents were signed.

A few months before she died, while she was already on hospice, a new will was signed leaving everything essentially to my sibling and specifically excluding me. A broad power of attorney naming that sibling was signed around the same time.

The timing is a major concern for me. There had been years after my father died, and significant time after my mother later moved and purchased another home, when she could have changed her will. Instead, this major change happened during the period when her physical and cognitive condition had become especially poor.

I did not know these documents existed until near the end of her life.

There are also circumstances surrounding how the documents came about that concern me, particularly given how dependent she was on other people at that point. I’m deliberately leaving some details out because I may speak with an attorney and don’t want to put every piece of evidence online.

At the same time, there are facts that cut the other way.

My mother and I had periods of conflict, and years earlier she had expressed anger toward me and apparently made comments about leaving everything to my sibling. So I cannot honestly say that disinheriting me was something she never would have wanted. People are allowed to change their minds, including for reasons their children think are unfair.

That is what makes this difficult.

If the new will reflects a competent, independent decision she genuinely made, I would accept it. What bothers me is whether she was capable of understanding what she was signing at that point and whether the decision was actually reached independently.

There is enough money/property involved that this is not trivial, but it also is not some enormous multimillion-dollar estate. Litigation could obviously consume a significant portion of whatever I might recover.

I’m less interested in internet legal advice than in people’s practical reactions:

If you were in this position, would you investigate/challenge it, or would you walk away?

For anyone who has contested an estate: was getting answers worth the money, stress, and family fallout? What made you decide there was enough smoke to justify looking further?

I wanted to share my experience because I found a lot of conflicting information online, including from the DMV itself.

I’m a 100% service-connected disabled veteran in California and wanted to keep my normal plates instead of switching to Disabled Veteran (DV) plates. My goal was to receive the Disabled Veteran registration fee exemption without changing my plates.

My first DMV office told me it couldn’t be done. They said I had to get DV plates if I wanted the exemption.

After reading posts here on Reddit saying otherwise, I decided to try a different DMV office.

The second office immediately said something along the lines of, “Yeah, we can do that.” The clerk just had to refresh his memory on the process and asked another employee, who said “so and so” had just done one recently and to “ask her” A few minutes later, they processed it with no issues.

I overheard them mention something that sounded like “…131 it.” I have no idea if that’s actually an internal DMV code or if I misheard them, so don’t take that as fact. But if you get told “no,” it may be worth politely asking the clerk to double-check the procedure or ask a coworker who’s familiar with it.

For anyone wondering, I submitted:

• My vehicle registration
• The REG 256A from filled out by the VA

I left with:

✅ My existing standard sequential CA plate
✅ A new registration showing the exemption had been applied “
❌ No DV plates

I’m sharing this because I almost gave up after being told it wasn’t possible. If one office says no, it may simply be that they aren’t familiar with the procedure.

Has anyone else had a similar experience, or knows exactly what process the DMV uses to do this? I’d be curious to hear from current DMV employees or other veterans who’ve gone through it.

https://preview.redd.it/gqz5kj9wze3h1.png?width=1320&format=png&auto=webp&s=f53a68ec28420c034ac3cf57474ccfadd958e8b4

https://specialforcesfoundation.org/bradley-s-bohle/

I just wanted to take a moment to recognize his sacrifice. Nearly 17 years ago, I was a young Marine assigned to 2/3 Weapons Company during OEF. I spent the majority of my deployment up to this point behind a computer. I finally was able to start going out on patrol.

I was on QRF the night of the strike. I remember the drive there and the mixed reports. We get there and dismount. I walk up to a poncho on the ground covering Sgt 1st Class. This was the moment my deployment became real. I was face-to-face with the reality of war. I helped carry his body and load it in the back of our MRAP until the medevac copter arrived to begin his journey home. That moment has always stuck with me.

RIP Sgt. First Class Bradley Bohle. I never met you in life, only in your death.