Washington State is moving to charging private well users for tapping into the aquifers that have been deemed as waters of the state. Currently all new private wells as of January 1st. 2018 are being charged a flat rate but they also must have a meter installed. So far older wells are exempt, but for how long they won’t say
Just recently, my 77 year old cousin passed away. He owned two rental properties. His widow (2nd wife) was not on the deeds, so had no idea how much money he still owed on the mortgages. The estate lawyer told her it would be a good idea if she went to collect the rents. Once the tenants learned of my cousin's death, they all decided they weren't going to pay their rents anymore, and she was worrying about how to pay the water bills for the property if no rents were coming in. I told her she was under no obligation to collect those rents since her name wasn't on any of the deeds or mortgage loans. Let the estate lawyer deal with it.
At least the house they had bought together was in both their names, so she had no problem selling it. She had to sell it, since she wouldn't have been able to afford to stay there on just what she was making. She's now living with one of her daughters. For the life of me, I don't understand why my cousin held on to those properties for so long. I know people get used to the money coming in, but he didn't do his wife any favors. He'd always told her that if anything happened to him, she would be alright. Well, he lied...and she wasn't alright. Sadly, she had fallen for his line, and never questioned him about the finances. He had debts she didn't even know of. If he was alive today, I'd give him a piece of my mind.
It's amazing how many couples don't share financial information with each other. My own niece makes more money than her husband, and like her father (my deceased brother), she pays all the bills, and her husband has no idea where the money goes. I told her she wasn't doing him, or her any favors, because if anything ever happened to her, her husband would be in the dark on all of it. I thought this tendency for one partner to deal with the finances was a thing that older couples did. But my niece isn't even 40 yet.