{"id":64,"date":"2011-05-18T19:52:58","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T19:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/?p=64"},"modified":"2011-05-18T19:52:58","modified_gmt":"2011-05-18T19:52:58","slug":"one-simple-step-now-can-save-time-and-money-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/one-simple-step-now-can-save-time-and-money-later\/","title":{"rendered":"One Simple Step Now Can Save Time and Money Later"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Being named as the executor of the estate of a deceased loved one comes with many challenges, including dealing with the probate system, and refereeing unhappy family members; but one of the most difficult (and least discussed) challenges is sorting through the plethora of paper and information that people collect over the course of a lifetime.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">You can save your executor (and your family) time and money later by organizing your important documents and finances right now.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not sure where to begin, or what information an executor would need to know, we\u2019ve assembled a list of information and documents an executor might need quick and easy access to if anything were to happen to you:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Instructions and letter to trustee:<\/strong> Contact information for your EP attorney and trustees, instructions on how to begin the process.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Minor children:<\/strong> Information about your minor children, nearby guardians or relatives, medical and health insurance information.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Personal Information:<\/strong> Birth and marriage certificates, passports, family, friends and contact people.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Estate Planning Documents:<\/strong> Trust, wills, any amendments, personal property memorandum.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Employment\/Business Information:<\/strong> Contact information for supervisors, client information if you are a small business owner.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Health Care:<\/strong> Advanced Health Care Directive, HIPAA, emergency contact information, phone numbers for doctors, health insurance particulars.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Financial Powers of Attorney <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Real Estate and Tangible Property:<\/strong> Deed to your home, mortgage information, homeowners and fire insurance, vehicle records, artwork and antiques.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Bank Accounts and Investments:<\/strong> Account numbers and locations, contact information.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Monthly Expenses and Bills:<\/strong> A copy of one monthly statement for each.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Information about recent Taxes <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Retirement Accounts\/Government Benefits: <\/strong>Account numbers, beneficiary information.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Life Insurance:<\/strong> Account numbers, beneficiary information<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Memorial and Burial\/Cremation:<\/strong> Preferences, pre-paid arrangements, phone numbers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><strong>Memberships\/Secured Accounts\/Passwords<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Once you are organized, keep your information in an accessible place and make your executor aware of the location. This simple act of organization will not only benefit <em>you<\/em> right now, it will save your family and your executor much time, money and frustration later on.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being named as the executor of the estate of a deceased loved one comes with many challenges, including dealing with the probate system, and refereeing unhappy family members; but one of the most difficult (and least discussed) challenges is sorting through the plethora of paper and information that people collect over the course of a&#8230;  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/one-simple-step-now-can-save-time-and-money-later\/\" class=\"more-link\" title=\"Read One Simple Step Now Can Save Time and Money Later\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,79],"tags":[18,20,78,80],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-estate-planning","category-probate-and-estate-administration","tag-california-estate-planning","tag-estate-planning-2","tag-executor-2","tag-probate-and-estate-administration"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estatetrustlawyer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}