Thinking through your own estate settlement and what steps your family will need to take isn’t fun. In fact, it feels kind of morbid. The reality is that you are taking measures to protect your family from unnecessary stress after you are gone. That is an act of love.
Start with creating lists of all your assets and sources of income, as well as debts owed, any social media accounts, or paid memberships. Put these lists, along with your will and any trust documentation, in a safe location such as a safe deposit box at your bank or filed digitally with your financial planner. Then make sure to tell your family where that information is stored.
Another place to store this estate snapshot data is my favorite online executor software designed for tracking estate settlement tasks and transactions. Use the link in the menu to visit their site. I trust and use this company’s product extensively in my business. If estate information is entered here while the estate owner is still living, then the information is loaded and ready for the executor and will save them so much time.
Then I would recommend that you meet with your financial planner. Make sure to find one that centers their business around estate planning, not just managing investment accounts. They can work with you and help you find any gaps in your current planning and refer an estate attorney to create any missing estate planning documents. If you don’t have one already, I know a handful of excellent financial planners and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals that will take great care of you.
The fact-finding that I do with my clients is much more in depth than what is mentioned above. If you’re interested cataloging your estate, but don’t know where to start or where to find the time, let me help. I make this easy for you.