RESOLUTION: GET ORGANIZED! By Gail K. Kachnycz on 1 January 2025
Did you think about New Year Resolutions as 2025 began? "Get Organized" is one of the top ten resolutions. However, a vague notion rarely translates into action. The topic of this post is one that is often avoided: End-of-Life Planning. Our lives are busy, especially if we are caring for others. Writing a Will, documenting instructions for a Medical Proxy, or pre-planning a funeral are the last things we want to do. But, if we make time and invest the effort when we are not in a crisis situation, things will be easier "when the time comes."
My mother passed away unexpectedly due to injuries sustained in a car crash. I was both her Medical Proxy and her Executrix. She was just about to begin a vacation trip, so she had shown me her will and other important papers. However, the document I had was only a carbon copy of the will. The original was filed in New Jersey, and my mother had moved to Pennsylvania. To make matters worse, the law firm in New Jersey had closed. According to the courts in Philadelphia, my mother had died "intestate," that is, without a will. I could use the copy of the will as an indication of her wishes, but it took extra time and effort to divide the estate as she wanted, rather than just equal portions to each of her children as the court would have done. This illustrates the need to review and update the information on a regular basis. New Year Resolution time might be a good reminder.
I see three topics related to End-of-Life planning, but there may be more. One is being a Medical Proxy (which is different from Power of Attorney, POA). Another is preparing for a death and funeral on a practical level. Last is settling the estate. The legal term is probating the will. Today's post will give resources for organizing the estate (finances and property).
On April 10, 2024 Jean Kirkley was featured as the CEO/Facilitator of Boomers R Heroes. One of the resources on her website is the "Blue Suitcase Drill." Kathy & Charles Sutton share their story and give information on how to set up instructions for the family to follow. Here is the link:
A commercial product is Nokbox, that is, "Next Of Kin" Box. A filing system which lists every aspect of settling the estate is offered with various options: "Lite," "Fireproof Box," etc. I have not used this yet myself, but it includes information that I would not have thought of to address. This might be good if you know you are a procrastinator, or organization is not your strong suite.
As always, I hope this is helpful.
I liked the idea but didn't want to buy anything. I found this website to copy and create my own. It seemed to missing a category to help family close out work and personal emails as well as social media. I am adding that.
ReplyDeletehttps://andreadekker.com/family-emergency-binder/