Legacy Box

[~Ari~]

I'm not a follower of Dave Ramsey - but he does bring up a good point with a "legacy box." Has anyone here created something like this? If so, what do you all have in it and where do you keep it? A fire/water proof lock box? Safety Deposit Box?

Would love some input, as we are trying to put one together. TIA

Here's a link if you want to see exactly what I mean: http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/love-your-family-well-with-legacy

[SimplyMarvie]

As a former Elder Law attorney, if you're planning for your death then you need to make sure those documents are accessible and everyone knows where they are. ESPECIALLY if they include letters of intent or medical or financial powers of attorney -- emergencies can (and do, I swear, more than 50% of the time) strike outside of business hours, and you want to make sure that your decision-makers have access to the documents giving them power to act without waiting for business hours to open, or someone to figure out where they put that safety deposit box key.

I am my mom's power of attorney for health care. I have a copy of the POA and her living will document with my papers, and we have a copy with the family law office. My sis also has a copy (she's my backup, but has POA for mom's financial documents). Mom has a copy among her papers, but it's just in a folder, not a safety-deposit box or anything. You could put financial instruments or such in a safety deposit box so long as you know they aren't things that would be needed immediately -- if you can live with a couple of weeks of wait time, then it's okay to lock 'em up. If you've got a pre-need funeral arrangement or immediately payable life insurance to cover funeral needs, that one needs to be accessible.

I don't have a legacy box, but we have an emergency document set in case something goes seriously pear-shaped and my husband and kids have to evacuate without me. It's a bit different than the legacy box -- it's focused on making sure Mr. Marvie has access to all our assets without me, so he can handle insurance claims, pay bills, make withdrawals, travel with the kids, etc. So it's got those documents plus a durable POA and a notarized permission to travel. I'm not actually too fussed about tax returns, as we have those online, or a budget or anything like that, but all the insurance carriers and policy numbers are in there, as are our banking documents, plus some cash and the emergency credit card. We keep it next to our luggage in a big water-proof document envelope, with a copy at my mom's in the US and a digital one with trusted friends.

[MrsPete]

We have two identical notebooks -- one for each of our adult children.  They know where the notebooks are located, though they have not been allowed to read them.  And we update the book every year when we do our taxes; for example, this year we have changed some of our investments, and someday we'll include bequests for grandchildren. 

The books contain:

- A personal letter to the children, including our final wishes and suggestions on using our lawyer and our accountant (along with contact information). 
- A checklist of things they must do immediately -- for example, contact the funeral home and obtain death certificates.
- A list of the information they'll need to obtain a death certificate -- yeah, they do know it, but having it all written out in one place will be helpful.
- A checklist of things they must do within the next few weeks, but aren't quite so time-critical -- for example, cancelling our cell phones, driver's licenses, passports. 
- A list of our financial assets -- along with account numbers, passwords, notes. 
- A list of the bills we pay each month along with account numbers (so no fraudsters can claim we owe anything). 
- Copies of our will and the contact information for the law firm that drew it up.
- Copies of our birth certificates and marriage certificates.
- Copies of our deeds, etc. 
- Copies of the last two years' tax documents (necessary to file a final tax return for the estate).

We put significant work into putting this information together, and at the same time we made the children co-beneficiaries for all our assets.  I think it'll one day make their lives easier. 

[Choices]

We have a document that we shared with our parents on Google Drive. It doesn't contain sensitive information like account numbers, but it does list where everything is. Bonus- when we update it, everyone has access to the updated version immediately.

- list of Wills, POAs, Trust and where the originals are located. We also mailed a copy of these to each set of parents.
- list of banks where we have accounts and the type of accounts, plus contact information for people at the banks who know us if applicable.
- list of medical, disability, homeowners, auto, etc. insurance companies and contact information for each company.
- where our safety deposit box is located and where the key is kept
- list of utility companies and recurring subscriptions (Netflix, etc.) and account numbers and/or phone numbers
- list of our employers and phone numbers for the HR departments

[aceyou]

We have two identical notebooks -- one for each of our adult children.  They know where the notebooks are located, though they have not been allowed to read them.  And we update the book every year when we do our taxes; for example, this year we have changed some of our investments, and someday we'll include bequests for grandchildren. 

The books contain:

- A personal letter to the children, including our final wishes and suggestions on using our lawyer and our accountant (along with contact information). 
- A checklist of things they must do immediately -- for example, contact the funeral home and obtain death certificates.
- A list of the information they'll need to obtain a death certificate -- yeah, they do know it, but having it all written out in one place will be helpful.
- A checklist of things they must do within the next few weeks, but aren't quite so time-critical -- for example, cancelling our cell phones, driver's licenses, passports. 
- A list of our financial assets -- along with account numbers, passwords, notes. 
- A list of the bills we pay each month along with account numbers (so no fraudsters can claim we owe anything). 
- Copies of our will and the contact information for the law firm that drew it up.
- Copies of our birth certificates and marriage certificates.
- Copies of our deeds, etc. 
- Copies of the last two years' tax documents (necessary to file a final tax return for the estate).

We put significant work into putting this information together, and at the same time we made the children co-beneficiaries for all our assets.  I think it'll one day make their lives easier.

Thank you.  I'm copy/pasting this into a document and adding a bullet to my financial to-do list. 

[SimplyMarvie]

We have two identical notebooks -- one for each of our adult children.  They know where the notebooks are located, though they have not been allowed to read them.  And we update the book every year when we do our taxes; for example, this year we have changed some of our investments, and someday we'll include bequests for grandchildren. 

The books contain:

- A personal letter to the children, including our final wishes and suggestions on using our lawyer and our accountant (along with contact information). 
- A checklist of things they must do immediately -- for example, contact the funeral home and obtain death certificates.
- A list of the information they'll need to obtain a death certificate -- yeah, they do know it, but having it all written out in one place will be helpful.
- A checklist of things they must do within the next few weeks, but aren't quite so time-critical -- for example, cancelling our cell phones, driver's licenses, passports. 
- A list of our financial assets -- along with account numbers, passwords, notes. 
- A list of the bills we pay each month along with account numbers (so no fraudsters can claim we owe anything). 
- Copies of our will and the contact information for the law firm that drew it up.
- Copies of our birth certificates and marriage certificates.
- Copies of our deeds, etc. 
- Copies of the last two years' tax documents (necessary to file a final tax return for the estate).

We put significant work into putting this information together, and at the same time we made the children co-beneficiaries for all our assets.  I think it'll one day make their lives easier.

Thank you, on your entire family's behalf, and the behalf of the Elder Law bar. Seriously, you have done your children an enormous service -- one that you may sadly understand, but they won't for a long time. Good on ya!

[Dezrah]

I think in this day and age it's worth adding one more item to MrsPete's amazing list.  I would also add any digital account login and passwords.  This would be for things like Facebook, Twitter, MMM Forums, iTunes, World of Warcraft, Amazon, Steam, etc. 

Some of these might just require shutting down, some you may want to leave a note (if we lost a prominent MMM poster, I'd certainly appreciate the information), some might be worth gifting or even reselling.  It may or may not be allowed under the terms of service for some of these but frankly I doubt Amazon would come after my brother if I bequeathed him our digital copies of the handful of TV shows we purchased.

[~Ari~]

I think in this day and age it's worth adding one more item to MrsPete's amazing list.  I would also add any digital account login and passwords.  This would be for things like Facebook, Twitter, MMM Forums, iTunes, World of Warcraft, Amazon, Steam, etc. 

Some of these might just require shutting down, some you may want to leave a note (if we lost a prominent MMM poster, I'd certainly appreciate the information), some might be worth gifting or even reselling.  It may or may not be allowed under the terms of service for some of these but frankly I doubt Amazon would come after my brother if I bequeathed him our digital copies of the handful of TV shows we purchased.

Thank you so much for all of the great advice everyone!! Will definitely be showing this to my husband and getting the ball rolling on these items! My dad past away very unexpected at the age of 48 2 years ago (I'm 23 and hubby is 24).....and this is why I ask! Everything would have been so much more smoother / less tense and stressful if he had something like this! We are still dealing with some of his stuff years later. He had his own business and had multiple accounts on social media and such, which are sadly still open because no one knows the log ins too :(. I  love the  digital account idea - This is actually the only thing we have done so far haha.

[Psychstache]

I think in this day and age it's worth adding one more item to MrsPete's amazing list.  I would also add any digital account login and passwords.  This would be for things like Facebook, Twitter, MMM Forums, iTunes, World of Warcraft, Amazon, Steam, etc. 

Some of these might just require shutting down, some you may want to leave a note (if we lost a prominent MMM poster, I'd certainly appreciate the information), some might be worth gifting or even reselling.  It may or may not be allowed under the terms of service for some of these but frankly I doubt Amazon would come after my brother if I bequeathed him our digital copies of the handful of TV shows we purchased.

Thank you so much for all of the great advice everyone!! Will definitely be showing this to my husband and getting the ball rolling on these items! My dad past away very unexpected at the age of 48 2 years ago (I'm 23 and hubby is 24).....and this is why I ask! Everything would have been so much more smoother / less tense and stressful if he had something like this! We are still dealing with some of his stuff years later. He had his own business and had multiple accounts on social media and such, which are sadly still open because no one knows the log ins too :(. I  love the  digital account idea - This is actually the only thing we have done so far haha.

I have my primary Gmail account set up so my wife's email is the recovery address. In the event of my untimely death, she can reset my email with hers, then reset any digital account using the access to my email.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[MandalayVA]

We've got a lot of this but following anyway!

[MrsPete]

I think in this day and age it's worth adding one more item to MrsPete's amazing list.  I would also add any digital account login and passwords.  This would be for things like Facebook, Twitter, MMM Forums, iTunes, World of Warcraft, Amazon, Steam, etc. 

I'm glad you liked our list -- we've worked on this project for about two years, and over time we've remembered this or that detail.  We did not, however, consider digital accounts! 

Two more thoughts on this: 

We found this project easy to put together; we're not exactly young, but we have every reason to believe we're far from death's door.  We commented to each other, though, that if one of us were seriously ill, this would be stressful.  Someday one of us WILL be ill -- and we'll be able to give our notebook a once-over, but our concerns about taking care of our estate won't be an issue at that point. 

Also, we review the notebook every April when we file our taxes; it seems to be a natural time to think about finances.  At that point, we make changes.  For example, we just changed our checking account.  When we retire, we'll remove the notes about informing our employers, returning our company keys, clearing out our work desks, etc. 

[Zoot]

MrsPete, thank you so much for this amazing list--you've inspired me to continue the process DH and I started on something like this in our own household.  We don't have any kids (and are unlikely to do so, given our ages), so our focus has been more on helping one of us in the event of the other's incapacity or demise rather than on guiding children, but your list has made me realize that it's critical to have this information at the ready for ANY next-of-kin who might be called upon to deal with our estate.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I was wondering: would you mind elaborating on the two points below?  I'd love to see some more details of what these checklists include, if you're comfortable sharing:

- A checklist of things they must do immediately -- for example, contact the funeral home and obtain death certificates.
- A checklist of things they must do within the next few weeks, but aren't quite so time-critical -- for example, cancelling our cell phones, driver's licenses, passports. 

[Secretly Saving]

I have this partially completed for our household and I'm working on a parent's who has a terminal cancer diagnosis.  It's hard, time consuming and emotionally exhausting!  Hopefully these posts will help to remind me to keep going and get all this shit done.

[MrsPete]

I was wondering: would you mind elaborating on the two points below?  I'd love to see some more details of what these checklists include, if you're comfortable sharing:

Sure.  Our notebook is aimed at two young adults who've never closed an estate, so it includes explanations that I won't include here, and our notebook includes addresses and phone numbers at every turn.  We wrote our list with the idea that we were BOTH gone suddenly, which would probably mean some sort of accident. 

Things they need to do immediately : 

- Go to our house and get the dog
- Secure our wallets, keys, cars, house
- Look in our safe; find money inside for immediate needs (i.e., death certificates, taking time off work, getting a traveling spouse home fast)
- Contact ____ funeral home
- Our thoughts on organ donation and funeral
- Contact our pastor; arrange dates
- Contact my principal; tell him he needs a substitute teacher for tomorrow
- Contact dad's employer

Things they must do within 2-3 days:

- Visit the funeral home to discuss arrangements
- Funeral home will order death certificates -- just hand them the enclosed page with all details funeral home will need to make this happen -- also, copies of our birth certificates and marriage certificate are enclosed in the book
- Go to our lawyer ____; open a probate file; follow his lead on closing the estate
- Contact the post office and have our mail redirected to one of your houses; do not allow flyers, etc. to pile up at the house; do not allow the funeral home to put up signs
- Once you have death certificates, go to the bank; you're already PODs on our checking and savings accounts; close the accounts -- use this money for our funeral, final bills, and split the rest equally
- List of friends and family to call -- when people ask what they can do, ask for help in making these calls

Things they must do within the next few weeks:

- Check my calendar for appointments to cancel; my phone numbers can be found at the back of my calendar
- Notes on whether to sell/keep the house -- and contact information for a real estate agent and a handyman we know
- Notes on other real estate we own
- Notes on keeping /selling our cars
- Notes on splitting up our more valuable possessions, including history of certain items such as names of three women in our family who've owned my wedding ring, etc.
- Complete and total permission to give away without guilt anything they don't wish to keep
- Go to our workplaces; clear our desks of personal items
- Make arrangements with our employers for our final paychecks and benefits
- Dispose of prescription meds in our bathroom
- Cancel voter registration, driver's licenses, passports, notify credit agencies and social security -- this is about preventing after-death identity theft
- Cancel cell phone service, credit cards ... well, we have a list of services that we now use ... though we've included notes about keeping the water /electricity running until they've sold the house
- List of all our financial assets -- accounts, investments, life insurance -- including account numbers, passwords, contacts
- List of bills we pay each month -- account numbers, etc. -- and a note that hospital bills may appear in addition to these normal expendatures
- Next April file a last tax return for our estate; have ____ accountant do this

[muckety_muck]

bumping to see if anyone else has done this, or an update from the original posters? With the new year approaching, I have goal-setting on my mind 24/7..

[Shinplaster]

Yes.  Like Choices, ours is a Google Doc that we have shared with our son.  It lists all the duties of an executor (him), laid out in order from 'immediately' to 'when you have time'.  Each section includes where to find the needed info, and what to do.  Also our wishes if we are incapacitated but not dead.  Mr. SP and I each have an book where we keep the latest statements from investments, insurance, etc.  On the cover is a summary listing banks/investment companies, lawyer, etc.  We don't include account numbers or passwords in the Doc. - account numbers on are the statements. and our passwords will be invalid the moment he presents the death certificates.  As things change, it's very easy to update.  e.g. We have a section for selling the house - we will most likely sell the house ourselves this summer, so that info will be removed.

DS does not want to talk about us dying, but we want to be sure he knows what to do.  We aren't planning on going anytime soon, but we've tried to simplify the process when we do as much as possible.

[englishteacheralex]

Great old post! I'm bookmarking it.

[AMandM]

bumping to see if anyone else has done this, or an update from the original posters? With the new year approaching, I have goal-setting on my mind 24/7..

Ha!  I began working on this when the original thread showed up, using MrsPete's list as a framework.  I'm embarrassed to admit that now, over two years later, I'm still not finished.

[NV Teacher]

Great suggestions.  When my sister passed away after a lengthy illness I helped my BIL handle things.  My sister had everything outlined in a notebook.  Accounts with numbers, addresses, and passwords.  Insurance information for car, house, and life policies.  Etc.  Made everything a million times easier.

[Trifle]

Great thread -- bookmarking.

[socaso]

We have two identical notebooks -- one for each of our adult children.  They know where the notebooks are located, though they have not been allowed to read them.  And we update the book every year when we do our taxes; for example, this year we have changed some of our investments, and someday we'll include bequests for grandchildren. 

The books contain:

- A personal letter to the children, including our final wishes and suggestions on using our lawyer and our accountant (along with contact information). 
- A checklist of things they must do immediately -- for example, contact the funeral home and obtain death certificates.
- A list of the information they'll need to obtain a death certificate -- yeah, they do know it, but having it all written out in one place will be helpful.
- A checklist of things they must do within the next few weeks, but aren't quite so time-critical -- for example, cancelling our cell phones, driver's licenses, passports. 
- A list of our financial assets -- along with account numbers, passwords, notes. 
- A list of the bills we pay each month along with account numbers (so no fraudsters can claim we owe anything). 
- Copies of our will and the contact information for the law firm that drew it up.
- Copies of our birth certificates and marriage certificates.
- Copies of our deeds, etc. 
- Copies of the last two years' tax documents (necessary to file a final tax return for the estate).

We put significant work into putting this information together, and at the same time we made the children co-beneficiaries for all our assets.  I think it'll one day make their lives easier.

If it weren't for a couple of specific references in here I would think this is my mom. But just in case, Mom? Hi?

[phildonnia]

I have a portable fire-safe for this purpose.  It contains:

1. Wills
2. Medical directives
3. List of financial accounts
4. List of insurance policies, with web addresses for making claims
5. The master password for my password manager.
6. Tips and guidelines for using the official Phildonnia filing system
7. Unused credit cards
8. Some other sentimental junk.