PEACE OF MIND
LASCA ARNOLD PENDLEY
If you were to suddenly die, would your loved ones know where to go to find your Will or estate plan? Would they know what type of financial and digital assets you have? How about insurance policies, safe deposit boxes? Where are your passwords stored?
One crucial part of estate planning that often gets overlooked is relaying information to our loved ones, especially those not in the home. Sure, your spouse knows where most things are, but what about children or if your beneficiaries are nieces and nephews or stepchildren.
One simple way to protect against chaos at your death or incapacity is to create a “when I die” or “important documents” file. And tell someone where you keep it.
You don’t have to tell them what it says today, but at least let them know you have one and how to access it in an emergency. This should be an inventory of what you have, where it is, and how to access it.
Death can be a logistical nightmare even if you have your Will and/ or trust set up and your family knows about them. Your loved ones can spend months or years looking for passwords, emails, or any clue to gain insight into your estate.
So, in addition to your “Important Documents (I.D.)” file, you should also call your internet, cable, cell phone providers and any other companies that you have subscriptions or on-going bills and add your spouse or loved one as joint owner.
Unless you add a loved one’s name to these accounts, gaining access to manage or close these accounts can be a real ordeal. This is a burden of needless work, time and expense.
If your estate planning documents cannot be located, it is as if they were never created. Leave a business card of the lawyer who prepared them in your “I.D.” file too.
The same is true for assets like bank accounts and other financial or digital accounts that no one knows about. Your loved ones cannot get it, if they don’t know where to look so, leave a list of the accounts or at least the institutions where you have accounts.
You should make sure your “I.D.” file contains an updated inventory of all your assets and their location.
When it comes to digital assets like cryptocurrencies, email, photos, video, and social media, your loved ones must not only be able to locate these items, but they must also know how to access them.
You should, therefore, include your login and password information in your “I.D.” file. It is great if you store your passwords online in a password management system.
You can also scan a copy of your paper information and store it in your digital cloud, so it won’t be destroyed in a fire or flood disaster.
Your file should be an inventory of your life’s assets and how to access them, including:
• An updated inventory of all your assets and their location, including password and access information for all digital assets.
• An advanced healthcare directive and medical power of attorney.
• A Will and/or living trust (with certificate of trust).
• Any marriage or divorce certificates.
• Instructions for your final arrangements.
• Guardian designations for any minor children for temporary and permanent guardians, along with your detailed care instructions.
• A letter to your loved ones. This seems especially important if you did not talk to them about your wishes during your life, or if your wishes may not be what they expect – explain why you did what you did.
I’m not saying you have to let everyone know your business. It is your life, your money, your things until you decide to give them away.
But if you can do some planning and let your loved ones know where they might look for direction once you are incapacitated or pass away, you will be doing them a great favor and giving yourself some peace of mind at the same time.
This article is provided by the Law Office of Lasca A. Arnold, PLLC.
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