25 Documents You Need Before You Die

The Wall Street Journal lists 25 documents you need before you die as follows (FYI, the piece is not written as a list, so I had to try and pull out the 25 items. Not sure I got them all, but here’s what I came up with): An original will A revocable living trust A “letter of instruction” Durable financial power-of-attorney form Documentation of housing and land ownership, cemetery plots, vehicles, stock certificates and savings bonds; any partnership or corporate operating agreements; and a list of brokerage and escrow mortgage accounts. Documents that list loans you have made to others List of any debts you owe to avoid surprising your family. Most recent three years of tax returns available A list of all accounts and online log-in information Safe-deposit boxes you own Durable health-care power-of-attorney form. Authorization to Release Protected Healthcare Information form. A living will detailing your wishes. Copies of life-insurance policies A list of pensions, annuities, individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s for your spouse and children. Your marriage license The distribution sheet listing bank-account numbers that accompanied the settlement A copy of the most recent child-support payment order Copy of the “qualified domestic-relations order” I’m in the process of writing down everything I know about our finances (what accounts we have, the account numbers, passwords, etc.) and then putting that document and all our other important papers in one spot so it’s easy on my wife should anything happen to me. Let me tell you, it’s quite an ordeal. Do you know how much financial information you can collect over the decades? And we have the stuff all over the place — in file cabinets, in a lock box, on computers, etc. Ugh. It’s quite a project to put all this stuff in one location. My plan is that once I get this all together I’ll update it once a year. Then again, it may take me a few years to get it all together. Is there anyone reading this that has gone through the process of doing all this? Any tips that might help the rest of us?

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25 Documents You Need Before You Die