USAA (United Service Automobilr Association) out of San Antonio and also The Reserve Officers Association have very complete checklists concerning your request. The main item which is pounded in is the compilaton of a "Death Box", using just such a list as you are suggesting. Mine is in a briefcase, which has been shown to my wife & children. All the data needed, including location of valuable documents, and the check list are in that "box". Suggest you check out USAA or TROA for complete lists. lAfter all, they deal with service members, who are apt to die without notice.
Regards, Texbill
You might also want to include stuff like whether or not they want to be cremated, or even what songs they want sung at the service; the less decisions that the family has to make during that time the better.
You're a fine person and a true FReeper for engaging us in what may be one of the key issues in our life, one many of us tend to procrastinate and put on the back burner.
When my mother died my brother and I were still young and living at home. We were old enough that it was out of the question to move in with relatives but young enough that we weren't financially independent yet(we were right on the cusp of adulthood). When my mother died we took her ATM card and pulled out some cash from her account, not to evade taxes, just so we could buy groceries and pay the rent the next week.
My mother did provide for us; she had life insurance and an 401k with us listed as the beneficiaries but it took a couple months before we saw any of it and it was that cash we got from the ATM that got us over the hump. Without it we would of had to choose between living in our car for a month or begging relatives for the dough(which I'm sure they would have provided but thats not how we were raised).
Have a binder with all your documents and make sure the wife/husband etc. knows where it is. Inside the following is suggested (by bad experiences many have gone through in the military after a spouse died). I suggest the following be kept in the binder and a copy sent to a relative or safety deposit box:
- Will (A complete one not the cheap ones)
- What to do with your body--cremation, where buried etc.
- What kind of funeral, coffin etc. you would like as well as who should be invited--even write the obit if you want to spare the surviving family of this task. Honor guard?
- All insurance policies
- DNR order or living will or whatever you/they prefer
- List of all assets/ bank accounts etc. (They get shut down if they're joint accounts when you die so the spouse won't be able to get at the money and they need.
- List of all credit cards (so spouse can delete the dead spouse and maybe keep the credit they have attained).
- Marriage and birth certificates
- Cash on hand if available/possible (Credit gets shut down on joint accounts within a few days)
- List of doctors, dentist etc. incase they need to help ID the body with xrays etc.
- Other insurance contracts like those extras that come with a house mortage, car, credit card etc..
- House deed or any other paperwork that may need to be changed
- Retirement certificates or any other forms (Vets need DD Form 214) discharge certificates
- Power of attorney to conduct affairs incase of a coma or other problem that would keep you from signing documents--military may be MIA or world trade center victims vaporized or lost at sea etc..
- DNA samples such as hair and fingernails
- Any other instructions you want carried out or even a CD or video of you giving your instructions
- Numbers and addresses of VA and Social Security adminstrations to call on benefits--even if still young
I probably missed something but this should get you started!
Yours in Truth,
On the bank accounts it would have been good to already had beneficiary down as whoever you have your money going to. If you plan to pay for your burial, have all the arrangements pre-purchased or at the very least have a trusted relative on an account of yours where they have access to monies needed to bury you.
I think you can leave an estate of almost $600,000 without tax today.
Then on another paper put down where everything is account wise or the family will have to wait for statements to come in.
I know that it's important to have deeds of Graves, in our family that had been a problem - and hard to resolve at the last minute... also, I learned graves can be reused (sounding of the grave?) so families can continue to be buried in a family plot.
Well, I have fleeting knowledge of this stuff, but I do remember watching the 'adults' in my life panicky and fighting over cemetary plots.
Just being,
Interesting topic .. My father died when I was 7 yrs old .. I learned from watching my mother what I not to do ..
Your suggestions above are good .. especially the letter .. just in case .. you forget to tell someone that you love them or some jerk neighbor what you think of them but never had the nerve when you were alive .. lol
I'll have to think some more on this topic .. BBL
It has 3 pages of information, and one with references of all sorts of articles and associations.
My clients were real happy to get it from me.
Trust me, it's exactly what you're looking for.
Call your broker, MFS, or Freepmail me your address and I'll mail it to you.