Getting your ducks in a row – Part one.
Awhile ago I wrote about the most important estate planning documents a person needs. You can read that article here. After it was published, it motivated some of our readers to make an appointment and get things done. Yet, when we are helping clients with estate planning, the truth is that some of them are simply not ready to deal with it yet. For those people, contemplating heady topics like death and disability needs to happen in very small increments. That is fine, just don’t die or become disabled until you have made your way through it.
For those of you in that phase, there are still important things you can do to feel like you are “taking charge” of your estate planning life. Here are five things that will help you start to get your ducks in a row:
Make a folder. I call this folder “WHEN I DIE” because it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. You could get a distinctive folder, or put fancy stickers on it, or every year on Dec. 31 you could write on the front “Not dead yet!” (A favorite movie of mine, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, has a very “gallows humor” type scene about this issue.) In this folder, start putting a copy of the account statements for the accounts and investments that you own. You can add in credit card statements, loan statements, income statements and other things relevant to what someone would need to take care of. You don’t need to do this every month, but make sure that you have a copy of a statement for every asset. If you own property, put a copy of the tax statement for the property in the folder. That way, when you die, whoever is handling your affairs will have a better idea of what you own and what you owe. You can also include other important things in the folder, like songs you might want played at your funeral, or poems, or a list of people who would want to know when you die. Once you do get your estate planning done, you can put this folder in with those documents. But for now, making it is a great first step.
Buy a safe. A safe is a good thing for everyone to have, since you can put important information in it, and it is likely to be fireproof and waterproof. Costco has a good selection of them and you do not need to be a member to buy many of their items online. Here is a link to a good one that I own. I like it because you can have a combination and a key. (Fire Resistant Safe from Costco). Once you have your safe, you can put important things in it, such as your “When I die” folder, and give the combination to someone you trust. At this point, you could also start making a list of important passwords to add to the “When I die” folder, since it will be in the safe. And, when you do decide to finish your estate planning, you will have a good place to put those documents. Tip: Save up those little “moisture absorbing” packets that come in shoe boxes and many other things, and throw them in the safe. That way it won’t smell so musty. The Costco version comes with one packet but more is better.
Make a list: you should have a list of the names, addresses, email and phone numbers of the people who are important to you, such as your children, friends, siblings, parents. These are people who at some point you may choose from to be your agents on your estate planning documents. When you get this done, put a copy in your “When I die” folder. You may want to capitalize on your momentum, and make a list of your assets. This is going even a step beyond the “When I die” folder, since it is actually accumulating the information on a list you can share with your estate planning attorney and certain others when you are ready. Here is a link to a form we give our clients to fill out. Information form for Estate Planning. You can put a copy of this in your “When I die” folder too.
Clean up: One of the best things you can do is to start getting rid of your junk. That way, if something unexpected happens to you, there is less of your stuff for someone to weed through. There are many resources to help you do this. My favorite is “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” For a recent birthday, I asked my son to death clean with me. We got rid of a LOT of stuff.
Talk. When it comes to health care decisions, which are another important part of estate planning, it is critical that the trusted people you will choose as your agents (when that momentous day comes that you do actually get your powers of attorney done) know how you feel about certain health care decisions that could come up. A website to help you get this started is called “The Conversation Project.” Here is a link: https://theconversationproject.org/
Now that you are on a roll, make an appointment with your lawyer. Get it on the books. It doesn’t mean you need to get everything done, but you owe it to yourself to talk about this, and consider your estate planning options. Consider it an “informational” session. In my firm, we are not high pressure when it comes to something like this. We know that estate planning – at its best – is not a cookie cutter business where we funnel you through a seminar into a high-pressure meeting. We are happy to have you come in to talk, and take time to think about it. Just don’t take too much time, since we have unfortunately had people die before their estate planning was done, and the documents are not effective until they are final. You also might want to get a pricing idea, since good estate planning will be a financial investment. The initial appointment can help you understand the costs of different options, and the costs of doing nothing. Hint: the costs of doing nothing are always higher. Guardianship and probate proceedings are court cases where lawyers and court fees are involved.
