You’re gone – now what?
No one wants to think about dying. But after a recent health scare, I began to think more about how difficult it might be for my kids to cope not only with the death of a paren't, but all the financial and legal fallout after the fact. I am not the most organized when it comes to keeping my home files in shape (terrible thing for a librarian to admit to!), so I began looking for resources that might help me in my quest to do this.
I began online and discovered some really helpful tools. Merrill Lynch has a printable PDF checklist to help you organize your financial life. The New York Times website offers an extensive interactive checklist entitled "Walk a loved one through your affairs", to take you even further in your organization.
In print, there are a couple of books to help you begin.
General tips include: sharing with your loved ones the location of keys for a home safe, safety deposit box, insurance (home, auto, life), bank and credit card statements, online accounts, passwords and investment information.
Good luck on your own financial tune up!
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