Freepers, care to add to this?
Thanks for posting this. Ping to see what advice people have.
One suggestion, keep them in a separate fireproof safe and LEAVE THE KEY IN IT. My parents had all their papers in a small safe, and burglars broke in, couldn't open it, and took the whole safe. Later the police found it open in the local reservoir, all the papers ruined. Had the key been in it they would never have bothered to take it. It will also save your family from looking for the key.
My father passed in December and fortunately, he was well organized, methodical in his paperwork and planning, as well as keeping essential documents in a central, fireproof safe.
As an aside, he did keep a lot of unessential records along with the important papers. For example, we found all of his tax returns and tax receipts. . .dating back to 1954.
You might also include what you wish to be buried in. My father, a retired O-6, told my mother he wished to be buried in his uniform. He also told me that as well, too include pointing out his dress blues as the uniform he wanted. My mother, never confirmed which uniform and she had him dressed in his White Mess Dress with medals and rank. However, as pointed out, this was not the uniform he wanted to be buried in. That was one issue, not a big deal really, but my mother wanted to keep "his medals," and as the casket was closing she had them removed from his uniform, too include his shoulder boards with rank. He was basically buried without his military honors. Not what he wanted.
Well UT denizens?
Anything to add, suggest, or amend with this list?
I think that it is a great list. I particularly took to heart the advice about pets.
I am also very supportive of drafting a will, and other end of life documents. I would advise that everyone sit down and discuss the contents of the will with the heirs. If you are honest with them up front, it will likely eliminate the post death fighting that destroys families. Of course, this assumes that the heirs are mature enough to understand the discussion.
Bfl....I am working on something that solves this...will have to post it when completed
I’ve thought about this a lot recently. My grandfather had a massive heart attack and dropped dead shoveling snow at age 44. My mother was 14 at the time, the oldest of 5 kids. He was a Liberator pilot in the Pacific during WWII survived being shot down twice, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.
I just turned 44. I have 3 sons under 10. I’m also a military pilot and my health has been vigorously monitored over the years via annual flight physicals. That pesky family history still worries me. Enough so that as unpleasant as it was to do my wife and I have wills and complete estate planning done. Just necessary fault stuff to do.
Sorry for your loss.
Great thread. I am in the process of building a continuity book for my wife and sons for just this reason. I would also add to that list any routine household maintenance items that need tending to (air filters, water softeners, sprinkler systems, etc...), water mains, breaker panel, garage door openers... Don’t take it for granted that just because you know about these things that your family does or will remember to check. Also, vehicle info.
I’m very sorry about your brother-in-law’s passing.
I will have all of my assets split evenly amoung my children. That is for the Will. The children get along very well together so it shouldn’t be a problem for individual items.
For bank accounts, I had to pick one of my children or any other adult to have control/ownership of the bank accounts passed to them when I pass away. The bank would not divide it any further.
True story: My inlaws died in 2002. Some 3 months apart. We had a relatively easy time of clearing their estates and they had sold the home prior and died instestate with just a little cash left over. Fast forward to 2012. 10 years later. We get a letter addressed to my FIL advising the insurance company has merged to a new and different insurance company and any questions can be directed to....
Say What?
We made a call and turns out the inlaws had bought a cheapie term policy and we never knew about it. Too bad for us it was only a $1,000 benefit, but digging up the proof of death resulted in $333.33 between the three surviving children.
I work for a very large, busy cemetery and funeral home - you have given excellent advice.
Sorry for your loss.
Thank you for thinking of all the rest of us FR readers who will ultimately pass this way. I have adopted your list and used it to improve on work I had done previously. Your method brings the idea pulling all the important information into a single document. Whenever I have done this (critical personal data in one basket) I have taken great care to only allow my hard copy to be locked in a bank safe deposit box of the family member I gave it to. In the case of soft documents I have found that my word processor permits me to “Save as PDF” with the added security of a password. Use a password the recipient will not need to write down.
Keep copies at home.
Make sure your family knows you have a box and with what bank.