Over the past few years, I’ve worked with a variety of clients who have had similar questions. One of the more common questions is,
How will my family know what to look for?
They are worried that when they pass away, their family will be unable to find their important information. We have tinkered with different systems for each family, but it always came back to the same issue. They needed to have their important information for their families in one place.
So finally, I decided to create a simple insert for their estate plans that had the information in an easy to use format. After input from a few clients and other trusted individuals, I finalized the My Personal Planning Essentials checklist. You can click the image or the link to be taken to a page to request a downloadable copy of the checklist.
My Estate Plan
The checklist provides a space for you to let your family members know what documents they should be looking for. It also lets them know where the originals are located and if anyone else has copies of those documents.
My Trusted Advisors
Chances are you’ve worked with a variety of professionals, both legal and financial. These trusted advisors will have important information that can assist someone who is tasked with managing and distributing your estate. You may even want to give a copy of this checklist to those trusted advisors. I’ve broken them into a short list of common advisors:
- Attorney
- Financial Advisor
- Accountant
- Life Insurance Agent
- Home Insurance Agent
- Auto Insurance Agent
Digital Assets
I’ve written before on the importance of protecting your digital assets, especially with all of the threats to our data privacy in the world. This section allows you to give a roadmap to someone so they can access your digital assets if needed.
Health Advisors
In the case of a health emergency, your primary doctor is likely one of the most important people to be notified. Also, there may be more than 1 hospital nearby you and, especially if your doctor is affiliated with one but not the other, it can be important to know which hospital you should be taken to.
Funeral Preferences
This section was a suggestion from my buddy Tony R. As he pointed out, a lot of people have prepaid for either their funeral or a burial plot. But what if the family doesn’t know that? It’s a traumatic time, someone has died, and making sure you go to the right funeral home is not always top of the list. And in my experience, if you go to the wrong home and make a pre-payment or deposit, they aren’t likely to return that to you when you figure out that the funeral has already been paid for somewhere else.
Next Steps
If this checklist sounds like something you’d be interested in, especially since it’s free, click here to request a download. And if you’re in the need to create a will or revise your current documents, please give me a call and we can discuss some options for you – (877) AMAYERS.
