Careful planning and organization is a blessing and much appreciated gift to those you leave behind. During a time of grief, it can be extremely difficult to concentrate on things like password recovery and searching through endless piles of paperwork. With the proper preparation you can ease this burden on your loved ones. This helps to ensure that your wishes are carried out and makes the estate administration process much more streamlined and efficient.
Start by making a checklist of important documents. The exact documents to include on this list vary from person to person. For example, if you are a business owner, veteran or naturalized citizen, you may have additional documents to include on this checklist.
The following items can help you get started:
- Names and contact information of the closest family and friends (those who should be immediately contacted upon learning of your death).
- Names and contact information of all lawyers, accountants and medical providers.
- Information on how to access your home safe.
Your home safe should provide your executor access to the following documents:
Legal Paperwork
This should provide access to your will and/or trusts, details of specific bequests, funeral arrangement information and instructions, funeral home contracts, copy of your driver’s license, social security card, birth certificate and marriage certificate. It may also need to include military service papers, court documents pertaining to an adoption or divorce, your passport or any citizenship information.
Financial Information
Create an overview of your financial information and include this paperwork in the documents placed in your home safe. This should list out all bank accounts – checking, savings, CDs, etc. Provide the name of the financial institution, the account number and whether the account has POD or TOD designations.
Also list out all of your retirement accounts. Include IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, SEP, HAS, FSA, etc. as well as pensions and profit-sharing plans. Make a list of all stocks and bonds and annuities. Include credit and debit accounts. Attach to this list copies of current income statements, current and previous tax returns, property tax records and all loan documents.
Property Records
Your home safe should also include any real estate property deeds, vehicle registrations, mortgage documents and lease agreements. Create a list of any valuable collections and how to access the assets as well as any necessary instructions for safeguarding, selling and/or appraising the value.
Insurance Records
Provide copies of your insurance records including life insurance, disability insurance, medical and dental insurance, auto and homeowner’s insurance and any other types of policies.
This sounds like a lot of information to collect and organize. Once you take the time to gather it, you should check annually to see if you need to make any changes. For more information on estate planning for peace of mind contact the estate planning attorneys at Stouffer Legal in the Greater Baltimore area. You can schedule an appointment by calling us at (443) 470-3599 or emailing us at office@stoufferlegal.com.
