More Than Your Will: 10 Overlooked Items to Get Together Now
We’re smart, capable, and on top of planning all kinds of things: vacations, playdates, social media posts, and even our own businesses. So why do so many of us put off planning for what our family will need when we’re no longer around?
You might know about the cornerstone of estate planning: your will. It’s kind of the basic legal document that outlines what you want to happen to everything you own (and the humans and/or fur babies you’re responsible for) when you die.
Yet less than half of adults have one, according to Gallup, When you get down to the 30–49 age bracket, it drops to 36 percent, or only about one in three people!
It’s tough to think about the fact that we won’t be around forever. But not thinking about it is not an effective way to keep it from happening! I know, shocking!
I got a crash course in just how complicated our lives have become and how much worse it is when you’re not left with a plan back in 2015, when my husband died.
At age 30, I found myself a widow and a single mom of a toddler, and the last thing I wanted to do was try to figure out how to get access to my spouse’s email to confirm that I wanted to switch the name on our utility accounts — among other things.
Though everyone should have a will (seriously, get one), there are so many other things you can do now to make things easier for your family if you were to die or become incapacitated.
1. Legal documents
While you’re looking for that estate planning attorney to help you create a will, you might want to consider a couple of other documents as well.
An advanced directive outlines what kind of medical treatment you would like if you are unable to speak for yourself. This can relieve so much stress on family members forced to guess what you’d want to have happen in an emergency.
A healthcare power of attorney names a person who is allowed to make medical decisions for you in the event that you’re not able to make them for yourself, and a trust might make sense to set parameters around money for minors or to help mitigate the probate process.
A good attorney can explain all of this in a way that makes sense for you and your situation, so it’s worth looking around to find one that you click with.
2. Important physical documents
Here, I’m talking about birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, adoption paperwork — you get the idea. Are all of your important documents organized and secure, yet accessible in case of emergency? Or are some of them under your bed, others in the file cabinet, and one in a safe you lost the key to?
Don’t make your family go on a scavenger hunt for these documents! Taking time now to track them down and organize them will be a huge gift to your loved ones.
3. Updated beneficiaries
We all hate paperwork, but take a moment to make sure that the beneficiaries you’ve named on life insurance policies, retirement accounts, investment accounts and bank accounts are up-to-date.
If your life situation has changed, like if you’ve gotten married, divorced, had a kid, etc. it’s time to take a look at these forms and make sure that they truly reflect your wishes--and you’re not leaving everything to your ex
4. Photos
If you’re the family photographer, the photos you have might be some of the most precious things you own--but where are they? If they’re automatically backed up to your iCloud account or in Google Photos, can anyone besides you access them?
Take the time to set up sharing settings, make those photo books you’ve been putting off, or download photos to a hard drive that your loved ones know how to access.
5. Important digital documents and emails
Are you a writer? Do you have a draft of a manuscript or play on your computer? Maybe a college essay that was published?
What about important emails from loved ones or business partners? All of these treasured documents can be really difficult for family members to access without knowing where to look and how to get there.
If you’re a Google user, you can set up Inactive Account Manager and Apple users can now set up a Digital Legacy contact. Taking these steps doesn’t give anyone access to your account now, but it does allow them to be able to access those important documents in case they need to--without having to worry about going to court to do it.
6. Account passwords
On a related but different note, think about how many different accounts you have--probably hundreds, right? If you already use a password manager to help keep track of them all, you’re already ahead of the game! But have you taken the time to make sure your loved ones can access your vault if needed?
This is a step that would allow your family to see what accounts you have and make decisions such as updating names or billing information, or freezing/deleting accounts to keep them from being hacked without anyone noticing.
7. Pet information
Our pets are members of our family. But sometimes, just one person’s name is on their records at the vet or their medication information is jammed in a drawer with who knows what else.
Double-check that you’ve got everything in order now to make sure that someone you love would be able to step in and take care of your fur babies if needed.
8. Business documents (agreements, contracts, licenses, trademarks, insurance, etc.)
You know how important it is to keep good, organized records for your business. You might have an accountant or attorney who has made sure everything is in order, but does your family know who those people are or how to access the information?
Spouses are often surprised to find out that they’re responsible for making decisions about their partner’s business if they die, and it can be a huge headache in an already awful time if they aren’t given a roadmap for how to handle this.
9. Client records
Similarly, you’d probably want clients to be notified if you weren’t able to provide the service you promised, right? Make sure that your records are up-to-date and accessible in some way if you run a service-based business.
10. Letter of instruction
And finally, my favorite document: a letter of instruction. This one doesn’t require a lawyer or anything fancy, it’s literally just your notes for any/all of the above items and more. If there are things that only you know but you think might be helpful for your loved ones if you weren’t around, you can write it down and stick it in a safe place--like where you put those important physical documents we talked about above.
This might seem like a lot, and hopefully your family won’t need this information any time soon! But taking the time now to be proactive about these items is a huge gift and something worth taking the time for.
This expert produced this original thought leadership piece free of charge to SheVentures. This expert values educating female entrepreneurs and the SheVentures community. SheVentures is not receiving affiliate compensation from the author/expert. Questions? Contact social@sheventurespodcast.com.
