Unfortunately, I recently experienced three significant losses in my family over the past year—my mother-in-law, my mom, and, three months later, my sister. The same experience five years ago included my sister and her husband.
From these losses, I didn’t realize it then, but now I know the importance of having your affairs in order regardless of your age.
Trying to navigate not only the loss of a loved one, but you’re also trying to find where your accounts are, passwords, and anything else that relates to general information regarding your finances can be difficult and time consuming.
Here is a list of those items to consider putting into place now so when the time comes those left behind will know what they need to know.
- List all your bank and accounting numbers, investments, credit cards, utility accounts, etc.
- Leaving clear instructions on how things are paid and passwords to get into different accounts.
- Make sure your accounts have direct beneficiaries.
- Have a Living Will
- Dual Power of Attorney
- Power of Attorney for Healthcare
- A Last Will and Testament
- Funeral planning declaration
- If you own a home, you can do what’s called a transfer of death, which will save thousands of dollars because it will allow the transfer of ownership of the home to your designee. It will also avoid the house having to go through probate.
- Life insurance policy with the number and where it’s located.
- Titles to all vehicles
- SOMEONE to know your IDs, account logins, and passwords
Most importantly, let someone know your wishes to avoid any lingering questions or hurt feelings.
Another suggestion is to put all this down on a document, place it in a safe or safety deposit box, and be sure someone knows you’ve done this and has access when the time comes.
I hope that when the time comes, your family will not have to spend endless hours figuring things out but will have everything they need to take care of business.
