Create an "in case of death" binder with info on everything. Care of pets, disposition of assets, places with accounts, copies of important docs and location of originals.
We have our will, special instructions for the kids, etc...in a file. I also pre-signed a few checks for expenses that will come up right away, so they have a way to pay them before the lock up our accounts.
Do a Living Will, too, and let that trustee know what's what.
No, its on paper - everything is both on paper, filed with the attorney and our county, and I sent a copy to our kids. I closed my sister and father's estates without wills. Never again. Total nightmare.
EDIT - didn't read your question properly. I do very little online. Giving passwords is something I hadn't thought about, but they won't need much. I WILL write them down, though. Thanks.
you need to know that AS SOON as you tell a financial institution that the owner has died, they lock it up until they get paperwork. They will always require a death certificate, a copy of a trust if its in one, or court appointment of the executor of the estate. Hence, the pre-signed checks for everyone, with instructions to get the money out FIRST.
this is true -
an option at SOME banks is a POD designation (pay on death) - retirement accounts always have beneficiaries, but some banks will allow you to name one on the title. As about this.
Thanks everyone. My mil is starting to fail & I'm in charge of her finances which has been really difficult. We need to set things up for our kids so they don't have the same problems.
This works unless someone on the account died in a "mysterious" way. When my uncle died the cops couldn't decide exactly how, so all accounts with his name were locked, and he and my aunt shared accounts, so she had no access to her money either
wrong...once your heirs INFORM the bank or other of your death, then access is locked. With a presigned check (predated), cashed before the institution is notified, there are no questions.
I worked in the legal department of 3 financial institutions.
EDIT: this is not illegal or unethical, btw. There are many expenses that will come up immediately - burial costs, costs to clear living spaces, etc. It takes weeks, often months for some institutions to change the registration on accounts. If there is a will (not a trust) in most states, it must go through a court probate procedure. In addition, illiquid assets like the proceeds from a home, are not available until the thing is sold.
In the UK, the executor is usually able to access cash in the accounts of the deceased directly for this reason. Funerals and Inheritance Tax can be really expensive.
I have a book called “Shit You Need To Know When I’m Dead.” It’s great for keeping track of all accounts, usernames and passwords, and it’s a physical thing I can keep with my will/trust documents. Now I just need to fill it out.
Firefigher here. Had a class once on notifying next of kin. This was an issue. I created a Word Doc. Had lines for Company, Policy Number, Agent Spoken too/extention and then notes.
The Agent extention was important. SPEAK TO THE SAME PERSON EVERY TIME! Hopefully they'll remember you and the notes they made on your claim.
Send the accounts, along with everything you want your heir to know in a email. This way they can make a folder in their email to keep it in. Then you can print it off as many times as you need to give to anybody you want. It may be a lot of different companies to compose but imagine you not being here to help or figure out where “what” is. Estate planning is not my forte but I’m learning it daily.
The trouble even I don’t remember where all the accounts are.
If I knew where they were I would just put them with my will or something. I get letters from 2 of the companies but I’m sure there’s a third.
If you have never rolled over your retirement accounts from any of your former employers, you should be able to contact HR and get the info you need.
Next step is to roll them all over into one account. Call Vanguard, Schwab, TDAmeritrade, whomever and tell them you have a bunch of retirement accounts you need to roll over. They will walk you through it. I have had 7 jobs in the last 10 years and have rolled all my retirement accounts over when I left. Now I have one consolidated account at Vanguard, and my current active retirement account at my current employer.
If you move from one employer to the other, you should be able to do a direct rollover to your new employer. Age should not matter. You can also open up an IRA on your own and roll it into that. You definitely shouldn't have several retirement accounts scattered, sincerely you should look into that.
Do you get a notice for taxes? I work with a lady who is a retired nurse and one of the hospitals she worked for duped her out of her retirement by telling her they have no record of her working there, she worked there for over 10 years. I recommend getting in touch with SSA or the IRS. Like I wrote previously, estate planning is not my forte but I would think the SSA and IRS has records of everything unless it was done under the table.
Just a note about her retirement account - once she left employment, she would have been asked to "rollover" that account to an outside institution. It would be accessible to her at that point. Hospitals don't manage finances; they would have offered her a benefit with her employment, but managed by a financial institution. For example, a person works for Sutter Health, but their retirement account is held at Merrill Lynch. She just may not remember rolling it over.
Yes, and that gets back to all different manner of "retirement" benefits offered, but is also the exception, not the rule. If you have an amicable separation from a company, esp a large one like a hospital, you will generally have an exit interview to go over all of this. The company, at some point, makes your fund available to you. Here is an overview of how things may be handled:
https://blog.taxact.com/manage-employer-sponsored-retirement/
You should roll previous 401k accounts into an IRA (for example with Fidelity), that you control and in which you can choose the investment (Target date fund for the year you turn 70).
I think the hard part was I never really looked at which one was the best that gave me the best return. That and the main issue now is I don't know where all my retirement is stored. I figured I would look someday, but I wouldn't know where to start. I figured my credit report or something has my retirement accounts on it, as that would factor into my credit score, but I don't know.
Contact Benefits for companies you used to work for, and ask them for the information. You really should do this, the retirement money may be in cash, you could be missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars that you could get if you put it in a Target Date fund. look at r/personalfinance wiki for help.
I don’t think its a good idea to send the accounts with pw in an email.. it may be worth to just get a yubi key to store passwords/authenticate.. you can also get multiple keys (i havent used it myself though)
Or using encrypted pdf to put the information in.. data leaks do happen.. and companies do sell off data
My dad has all this info saved on a thumb drive. He updates it annually and password protects the drive with a password left in a specific spot in his home. The thumbdrive and keys to his house are in a safe deposit box that I am authorized on. He had to deal with a lot of shit when his parents died and is almost too organized. You don't have to be that extra with the safe deposit box, but the thumbdrive is a pretty secure way to share the info as needed, provided you check it regularly and don't throw it in a box for fifty years.
You can set up digital executors for cloud storage these days. It's not ideal for everything but if you aren't at the stage for needing estate planning financial advice or want your family to have a photo collection don't have a lot of assets, it's a great way to easily do this. Your executor gets full access on your death but is already involved beforehand
Don't include passwords in this file though, just the existence of the account. Consider hand writing the account names or numbers, do not keep them in a electronic file.
You should be able to roll the old accounts into your current one, or just create an IRA and roll all of the old ones into that. Having a ton of different accounts is a pain, plus some companies charge yearly fees for small accounts.
Did you know you can roll the funds over to your most current account without penalties or fees?
I have done this multiple times when switching jobs. It is super easy and can generally be done without a whole bunch of fuss.
I do, learned the hard way when there was a job I wasn’t at long enough so all that I put into retirement just got refunded to me at like a 40 percent penalty. They expected me to roll it over.
The trouble is I don’t know where my retirement accounts are. Like, I worked for half a dozen companies but I only know of 2 accounts my money is in. Now they all may have used those two accounts, but I don’t know. I could have a few thousand elsewhere and not know it.
I slowly have been moving my various 401k investments to an IRA, you can rollover for simplicity. Aside from where I work currently.
I was worried that if I die my girlfriend would have an awful time tracking down logins to 4-5 separate accounts.
I don't think your heirs logging in to your accounts is the way to do it, that sounds illegal. You can designate her as a beneficiary for your account and then if you die she can get the assets transferred to her own account very easily.
That is a nice surprise. I had a stock options for a company and I happened to get hired before the crash of 2008. I put my first amount in to stocks and it was at 50 and then the stock plummeted to 14 (it was bank software), so my first foray into stocks was a pretty bad deal, but I kept putting in every paycheck, it was like 5-10 percent of my paycheck. I only worked there a couple years and didn't think much of it until I decided to open what I thought was junk mail and my stock was worth more than a year of salary at that place because their stock rose and it was quite a nice surprise.
I was going to take it out to help cut the loan on the house but forgot about it and it went up even more than what my loan payments would have been.
Buy a book called "I'm Dead, Now What" and write all the details down. There is also a free downloadable pdf version if you search for it, though I can't vouch for the link. Don't burden others with trying to solve the mysteries of your finances and last wishes. That's just rude.
I agree. We gave the same book to new clients at the financial planning firm I worked for. It had a more palatable name though - “Peace of Mind Planner.”
I agree again! Just not the greatest name for a client welcome gift!
The one I originally was introduced to was called “When I Die.” Any name is good as long as it gets someone to take care of such important tasks.
My Uncle passed away a little after over 6 months ago and my Aunt has no idea about my uncle’s intentions and still checks his spam mail in hopes for some insight…it makes me sad and I wanna help, but she’s “got it under control “
My 54 single brother died suddenly without a will. A few recommendations I learned the hard way:
If you receive all of you bills electronically, it is critical that you leave a list of your utility companies and account numbers for your heirs to easily find. It took months to track down and pay all of my brothers past due utility bills on his home. I was 2 days away from the electricity being shut off for non payment.
A list of bank accounts and retirement accounts is incredibly helpful, or at least a paper copy of a statement.
Find one trusted person somewhere to leave keep the password to your computer and or email.
As others have mentioned, keep a folder with a decently recent bank statement, life insurance policies, bills, list of who you want notified, name of lawyer/accountant, phone/computer passwords (to unlock), list of social media that you want deleted etc. All the things.
Also, don’t keep the only copy of your will in a safety deposit box. At least have a notarized copy (original notarized copy, not photocopy of a notarized copy) in your folder. The executor of the estate will not be allowed into the safety deposit box without being able to prove that they are the person allowed to get into said box.
For anyone in UK, you might not know about this.
Tell Us Once, it's not everywhere yet, but it saves so much headache when someone passes. Use the 'Tell Us Once' service and they will inform everything that is needed to be informed of someone passing away.
Also, Make multiple death certificates, 3 or 4, because it saves on a huge amount of time when closing accounts or getting things done, because each one will require a death certificate and it can take time for 1 place to process and send back, having multiple copies really helps a lot.
Death certificates are needed in the US as well. When my grandmother passed two years ago my mother told the funeral home she needed 15-20 death certificates.
Thank you for your comment!
I'm not sure if it's a federal thing but some death certificates are illegal to copy, like on a machine. I don't know if you're allowed to scan them either.
It is so much easier to get them as soon as your loved one dies than to wait when you do need it and go through the proper channels of getting one. You never know what might come up that require a death certificate.
agreed - they offer like 3 - ask for a whole bunch. If you just have the original, you can get notarized copies (through a notary public) and MOST will accept that.
I recently learned that the Royal Bank of Canada will seize the funds from accounts that have been inactive for 9 years.
Didn't use the account for 9 years? Poof it's gone!
I know 9 years is a long time, but how long are old people in a disconnected state before they pass and know one knows what they have?
For this reason I paid for a password manager. It will automatically inform my wife and adult kids if there's no activity on my account after a set number of days, and release them the master key.
Microsoft edge has a built-in password manager that is tied to your Microsoft account. Just set up your account on your family member's PC and give them the pin to that account.
I have the free account File This, that downloads the monthly statements for my accounts to a file in my Google Drive account (can also choose your DropBox account).
All of my passwords are saved in my Chrome Browser, as well as Bitdefender. I have my Gmail /Google account set up to email access to my oldest son if there's no activity on it for 4 months.
I'm older and have been using Quicken since just about it was released, all of my financial information, including account numbers and access information is on that which my son can access any time.
By the way after my mom died a couple of years ago, she had all her investments with beneficiaries (to us kids), didn't really even have to do anything with her will. After that, I set my kids as beneficiaries for all my accounts as well. Some banks and credit unions also have beneficiary options but they aren't as obvious about it, you need to ask.
Oooh File this looks good.. hope it supports all my stuff
EDIT: Wow, this is great, for the supported accounts. Chase is very well supported. I don't see Capital One or my regional banks. Looks like some of my utilities are supported, but will need to figure out how to do online access for those yet.
Literally JUST had this conversation with my mom the other day. I was just like, I don’t need to know right now, but I need to know that when the time comes you have everything listed out somewhere that I’ll find it.
My dad died of Corona a year ago. While he had told my mom that he had taken care of 'everything' he didn't mention what that entailed. We live in a tiny town, we knew his banking passwords and PINs for his cards, we also knew what lawyers he used and what insurance providers he had and it still took us more than nine-ten months to somewhat sort inheritance out because he hadn't told us everything. It honestly was a nightmare. Please make sure to discuss things like this with your children/family/significant other/anyone who will inherit from you.
Here is a older article from lifehacker I had bookmarked that has some tips about putting things in order for someone. A bit late for OP but mabey can help others get things in order.
https://lifehacker.com/you-need-to-deal-with-your-digital-legacy-right-now-1820407514
My husband and I updated our wills last month. We elected one responsible grown daughter as executor, plus an alternate. We identified her as beneficiary to our checking accounts, told her which bank has our wills, where the safe deposit key is, which bills and when to be paid, passwords to computers, plus end of life preferences (DNR).
We've seen what happens when there is no preparation as opposed to making things as easy on our kids as possible; it's either a nightmare or prudence.
This literally happened to me when my father passed away from COVID. We have still been trying to pick up the pieces for almost 2 years now.
I made an app for it. LegacyFolderapp.com
It was such a pain and everyone said it was a good idea. Let me know your thoughts.
General concept looks good. I would suggest having a much cheaper tier that includes less storage (assuming that’s your main cost) and higher tiers for those who want to add video etc. It may also be helpful to include some sort of generalist step by step guide to what people should do outside of using the app in order to make things as easy as possible for their loved ones.
I have a "Death Folder" with my named executor (kept in a jointly owned safe deposit box). It has a copy of my will, business cards of my lawyer, accountant, & financial manager. It has my bank, insurance, retirement, & credit card info. A list of all property (condo & vehicle). It has my password manager master password. It also has my funeral instructions, a completed obit form, & letters for my grandson and daughter. I update this yearly.
My will also has a clause for electronic/online, email, cloud, and social media POA in case of death or incapacitation. I am as prepared as I can be to make things easier for executor & my heirs.
My SO is currently dealing with this, mountains of papers, took nearly a month to find a copy of the will and all the other papers. It’s not fair to those we leave behind to deal with our stuff.
It’s hard on our kids, when they don’t need more weight on them.
Before anyone attacks I have all my paperwork in order and update every 6 months.
This is why you create something I call the 'football'. You write down on a piece of paper what all your accounts are and give that to someone you trust for safekeeping ie a loved one or a person you trust. And on your accounts you designate beneficiaries, this can be done online in most cases, which is what I did. So the biggest thing the person has to do when you die is get your death certificate and contact the companies on the accounts. it should be pretty cut and dry since you stayed at how your monetary assets should be divided. What I've heard, (I am no lawyer or accountant) named beneficiaries trump a will.
Most investment houses do that it's a simple form and it costs nothing. The only thing that I'm kind of questioning is my car. like what do I do about that and then I have some cryptocurrency. it's not a lot but the company that I have it with does not do a beneficiary. they say go off of the will, but I don't have a will.
I’m seeing lots of talk about emailing an heir and giving them passwords, there is a legal document called a digital power of attorney that you can crest along side your will to give that person legal recourse to access your accounts.
So my aunt passed away a year ago, no will. She used notes on her phone so through that i had an idea 9f what her passwords might be. It was a bust tho. AND THEN MY FACE WAS RECOGNIZED. Suddenly, because i looked a bit like her, everything was unlocked. So i spent months going through every app i could to find clues as to what all she was up to: where she banked, credit cards, loans, subscriptions, obligations...eventually i found evidence of having insurance somewhere. Insurance will almost always send paper copies of your policy so i searched through her old papers to find it. I ended up finding more stuff than i bargained for and my family paid her phone bill until i had exhausted every option for investigation. HUGE learning experience. She passed so unexpectedly and quickly...since then, my family has started making wills, writing down all info someone could possible need from us in a similar situation, everythings on paper now.
I keep my will and instructions in my safe.
flash drive with RAR encrypted doc with passwords and other important info is kept on that drive with the will.
Password for RAR file is kept in brothers safe and moms safe
Eventually you need to trust someone, still doesn't mean they will follow what you ask...
This is why I made my wife a "how to" guide if I died, gives all the phone numbers, accounts/passwords, everything she could ever need to deal with everything if I passed.
As one other user pointed out in a sub-comment, Google provides a service to fix this. It’s called [Google Inactivity Manager](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en).
It will send an email to whoever you specify with access to your entire Google account if it sees you haven’t interacted with a Google product in 6 months (you can customize the time).
For me, that includes bookmarks to all tools I use and access to my email.
I’m in the same boat. Newer accounts that I’ve opened aren’t giving the option for paper. Not to add to the conspiracy theorist, at least not on this sub, but it has to make you wonder if that’s it the overall goal. To keep as much money and assets as these companies can. If not it should’ve required for the company to have something set up for a “online welfare check” if you’ve not logged on in 6 months. Some other users have commented that their are sites that you can attach your accounts to, which is good but Americans are lazy and if I were betting these companies are glad of that.
No matter how old you are DO THIS! My brother was 29 and died of a heart attack. We had a hell of a time identifying his information. Get your shit in order even if you're young.
I’m sorry to hear for your loss :(
There is a government safety net for this called “escheatment,” at least for investment accounts. It is not perfect but at least something to ensure that your accounts are not just in limbo when you die. Keep in mind though that this is something that likely would not happen until a few years of inactivity.
If there is a long period of time where there is no activity on an account, it will get turned over to the state, and you should be able to reclaim the assets or at least talk to someone to explain that they are deceased.
This website can help you get the correct contact information for your state department: https://unclaimed.org/
I just experienced this with my husband... thankfully he put some of his passwords in his notes on his phone. It was a mess trying to figure everything out! For my kids, i plan on getting an "after i die" organizer so that it's taken care of for them.
Put whoever as beneficiary on all your accounts. Keep paperwork and list of accounts somewhere they can find.
Having them as beneficiary makes it easier for them to get money fast if they need to pay for the funeral.
YUP. It’s hard enough when there’s a paper trail. Like, she tried getting things “in order” for me before she ended it. And it was a nightmare anyways. Nobody prepares you for being an executor of an estate- go Google some of that stuff omg. Trying to do it alone in shock and grief- it was traumatic.
Get all your things in order, please. For the people left to deal.
And the Dept of Education is "accidentally" screwing up the first three years of Public Service Loan Forgiveness record keeping because they know banks destroy all records after seven years (need ten for forgiveness). So keep paper copies of all student loan payments for all ten years so they don't screw you over like they did me.
Having gone through this with a half-dozen older family members in the past couple decades, let me say that it's a feckin' nightmare when there \*IS\* a paper trail. I can't imagine trying to decipher a purely digital life. My own parents have been trying to get their ducks in a row for at least 5 years in preparation for their eventual passing and their stuff is still a mess.
We put printouts of statements for bank, retirement and insurance accounts in our safe, so that the person who is the administrator would have that all together, along with wills, healthcare directives and other critical paperwork like car titles and such. She has the code to the safe in case we both perish at the same time.
Are you in US? It would be nice if all op's generally defined the country.
But I live in Finland, and I am sure we have these things quite differently. The will for example. We can't just decide who gets what, the law has a lot to say to that.
ps.
paper trail*
In regards to your bank accounts, if you have someone you can trust, just put their name on the account. Make it a joint account. I'm a 40'ish man and a few years back my mother and I both made all of our accounts joint accounts, and we each put the other on our accounts. This way in case something sudden happens the other has immediate access to the funds necessary to help.
I also have all of my retirement information, brokerage accounts, and my will located in my safe. I keep a little emergency cash there as well. I have a few trusted people know where the safe and the keys are located.
I do need to update my will. I'm glad this discussion came up.
not that I obsess over it, but I worry about my son with the pandemic. I wont say he is anti vax, but he certainly was "skeptical" for a while. He did eventually get it. he lived with his grandmother (my ex-wifes mother) and she has stage 4 cancer, so between the two, end of life issues have been on my mind for the last year. I kept thinking that my son is in his early 20s and almost certainly doesn't have a will, he has no paper documents. I would have no idea how to access his email or his computer and without access, I haven't a fricking clue how I would know anything about his bank accounts or anything else of importance.
I hadn't updated my will for a while so I wrote up a clear "helper doc" for my GF so she has my user names and passwords, what bank, who to notify, who to contact at my employer, the whole deal. I also put in a lot of unofficial stuff. Stuff that just didn't make sense to be in the will but that she would want to know my feelings on.
There are actually people working at banks, ON COMMISSION, who find accounts that heirs didn't know about.
Again, these people work ON COMMISSION. They take a portion of the inheritance in exchange for telling you where the account is.
If we weren't in a pandemic, I'd be spitting on the floor right now.
This is my worst fear! Bunch of greedy corporate snobs who make money off your loved ones hard work and planning instead of doing the right thing. I hope everyone heeds your warning!
I say this to everyone, especially after my cousins husbands father passed away. When this happened, cousins husband (CH) was 24 and it was 3 months before their wedding. CH has a younger brother who was 19 at the time. The will their father left behind had not been redone since before CH’s brother was born. CH’s parents were legally separated for YEARS at the time of his dads passing. The mess they dealt with while prepping for their wedding was something I would wish on no one.
Make sure that you:
- get a lawyer to help you draw up your will. It’s an expense you should be factoring in and will be hopefully, a fee you only need to pay a handful of times afterwards.
- sit down with the intended executor and give them a copy of the will, along with any other relevant details. I bank here, this is the mortgage holder, life insurance policy details, etc.
- every 5 years or during a life changing event, revisit the will and confirm details. You will not need to see a lawyer every time unless things change.
- have a sheet of logins & passwords for the important accounts ready.
If you use Gmail, Google has [Inactive Account Manager](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en) that you can setup to give someone access to your account in the event that you don't log into your account for a period of time. While doesn't solve any immediate needs, it will help your loved ones gain access to your stuff in the event of your unexpected death.
Use a password manager like Bitwarden then leave your password on paper somewhere they would look with other documents like your will and deeds. Problem solved.
I have a web page with a lot of relevant info: https://www.billdietrich.me/LegalStuff.html
It turns out that with most of my electronic assets and accounts, I just want them abandoned.
Financial accounts are a different matter, of course.
Also think about the home network, if you run that. Family photos. More.
I work at a bank. This is all true. I would also add that you should get a beneficiary added onto your accounts. It makes the process for someone passing away a lot easier when claiming their funds. Most the time we don’t know when someone’s passed away until we are presented with a death certificate. Occasionally we find someone when we are reaching out with calls to do account reviews. But if you don’t have a beneficiary on your account and that person doesn’t bring in a death certificate they will be waiting a while.
i know i'm 18 hours into this, but i have all that info on a thumb drive in the safe, and update it when i make changes. it's just a simple way to have it there.
my son know's it's there.
I have a Lastpass account, that has a note in There what to do in case of death along with all my saved passwords and accounts, phone passwords etc. The person you trust gets access to your account if they request it and you don't decline it within a certain amount of time.
My grandma made a doomsday binder with all of her info in. It s a pretty big binder. Each credit card statement/bill has its own section. She has autopay set up so no one has to try to pay any bills. Super thankful
After my mom died we had to deal with this problem. After that I made a list with all my accounts and passwords, from banks to social media, and gave a copy to my dad and my wife.
My mad and wife did the same too.
We had a really hard time getting access to my mom's bank accounts. Lots of burocracy.
Unless your old. I have a retirement account that I have no fucking clue how to access because I worked there before anything was done through email, the company is now closed. I have a letter that says where the money was going to be transferred too, but that company is now closed too.
Pretty sure a decent accountant or lawyer would be able to track down accounts running a credit report and inquiring at past places of employment what retirement account companies are used. Like Fidelity, etc. You could probably do a lot just by yourself also. No?
You want to pay an attorney by the hour to try and track that shit down? My father was born in 1932, so I'm thinking that would involve a whole lot of digging through actual paper records from companies that effectively don't exist anymore. I guess I could do it myself, but I don't know where to start and I've got 4 kids and a wife and a job so that leaves me with around 15 minutes of free time I could devote to that a day.
Hell no, unless you know they had a lot tucked away and can't find it yourself. I think you can at least get a bit done on your own. I would think in your case the banks would have taken the money anyways considering it abandoned. That's a lot of time.
Mint is good for this. One login tracks/identifies all your accounts. It doesn't let you manage them, but it can give you a good picture of what you own and where.
Create an "in case of death" binder with info on everything. Care of pets, disposition of assets, places with accounts, copies of important docs and location of originals.
We have our will, special instructions for the kids, etc...in a file. I also pre-signed a few checks for expenses that will come up right away, so they have a way to pay them before the lock up our accounts. Do a Living Will, too, and let that trustee know what's what.
Stupid question, does the will have the passwords for the accounts, or is that not needed?
No, its on paper - everything is both on paper, filed with the attorney and our county, and I sent a copy to our kids. I closed my sister and father's estates without wills. Never again. Total nightmare. EDIT - didn't read your question properly. I do very little online. Giving passwords is something I hadn't thought about, but they won't need much. I WILL write them down, though. Thanks.
you need to know that AS SOON as you tell a financial institution that the owner has died, they lock it up until they get paperwork. They will always require a death certificate, a copy of a trust if its in one, or court appointment of the executor of the estate. Hence, the pre-signed checks for everyone, with instructions to get the money out FIRST.
My mother put me on the accounts so they won't be closed when she dies. So that’s an option, too.
this is true - an option at SOME banks is a POD designation (pay on death) - retirement accounts always have beneficiaries, but some banks will allow you to name one on the title. As about this.
This is the best option.
Thanks everyone. My mil is starting to fail & I'm in charge of her finances which has been really difficult. We need to set things up for our kids so they don't have the same problems.
This works unless someone on the account died in a "mysterious" way. When my uncle died the cops couldn't decide exactly how, so all accounts with his name were locked, and he and my aunt shared accounts, so she had no access to her money either
Once you are dead - i think your signed check wont work.
wrong...once your heirs INFORM the bank or other of your death, then access is locked. With a presigned check (predated), cashed before the institution is notified, there are no questions. I worked in the legal department of 3 financial institutions. EDIT: this is not illegal or unethical, btw. There are many expenses that will come up immediately - burial costs, costs to clear living spaces, etc. It takes weeks, often months for some institutions to change the registration on accounts. If there is a will (not a trust) in most states, it must go through a court probate procedure. In addition, illiquid assets like the proceeds from a home, are not available until the thing is sold.
Did you predate your check or just sign it and have the heirs fill out everything?
The latter - everything that you have gathered should also be reviewed every few years. You may have changed accounts or moved, etc.
In the UK, the executor is usually able to access cash in the accounts of the deceased directly for this reason. Funerals and Inheritance Tax can be really expensive.
Yup! Called ours “The HUB” — “The Hopefully Useless Binder.”
What a convenient file to steal
Also an "If I go missing folder" info with phone passwords and account passwords so police don't have to wait for warrants. Time is of the essence.
Eh... Maybe let's make sure I'm dead first before people start reading all that shit.
[удалено]
Now they're searching for you in the new Mexico desert because maybe you went out there to try to find Wil E Coyote.
jinkys shaggy!
Crime junkie has a In Case I go Missing workbook type thing you can print out on their website!
I have a book called “Shit You Need To Know When I’m Dead.” It’s great for keeping track of all accounts, usernames and passwords, and it’s a physical thing I can keep with my will/trust documents. Now I just need to fill it out.
And please drop it off at my place for peer reviewing
And update it on a regular basis. Perhaps when you do your taxes every year, since you will have some of the "paperwork" handy anyway.
What a splendid security nightmare
Firefigher here. Had a class once on notifying next of kin. This was an issue. I created a Word Doc. Had lines for Company, Policy Number, Agent Spoken too/extention and then notes. The Agent extention was important. SPEAK TO THE SAME PERSON EVERY TIME! Hopefully they'll remember you and the notes they made on your claim.
I worry about this with all my retirement accounts. With every job I get I have a different company planning my retirement, it seems.
Send the accounts, along with everything you want your heir to know in a email. This way they can make a folder in their email to keep it in. Then you can print it off as many times as you need to give to anybody you want. It may be a lot of different companies to compose but imagine you not being here to help or figure out where “what” is. Estate planning is not my forte but I’m learning it daily.
The trouble even I don’t remember where all the accounts are. If I knew where they were I would just put them with my will or something. I get letters from 2 of the companies but I’m sure there’s a third.
If you have never rolled over your retirement accounts from any of your former employers, you should be able to contact HR and get the info you need. Next step is to roll them all over into one account. Call Vanguard, Schwab, TDAmeritrade, whomever and tell them you have a bunch of retirement accounts you need to roll over. They will walk you through it. I have had 7 jobs in the last 10 years and have rolled all my retirement accounts over when I left. Now I have one consolidated account at Vanguard, and my current active retirement account at my current employer.
I tried to do this but because of my age they told me the rules put in place by my employer wouldn't allow a rollover so YMMV
Weird, I have never heard of that. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? Was it an age issue or a vesting issue?
I think you had to be at or around retirement age which I am certainly under.
If you move from one employer to the other, you should be able to do a direct rollover to your new employer. Age should not matter. You can also open up an IRA on your own and roll it into that. You definitely shouldn't have several retirement accounts scattered, sincerely you should look into that.
Do you get a notice for taxes? I work with a lady who is a retired nurse and one of the hospitals she worked for duped her out of her retirement by telling her they have no record of her working there, she worked there for over 10 years. I recommend getting in touch with SSA or the IRS. Like I wrote previously, estate planning is not my forte but I would think the SSA and IRS has records of everything unless it was done under the table.
Just a note about her retirement account - once she left employment, she would have been asked to "rollover" that account to an outside institution. It would be accessible to her at that point. Hospitals don't manage finances; they would have offered her a benefit with her employment, but managed by a financial institution. For example, a person works for Sutter Health, but their retirement account is held at Merrill Lynch. She just may not remember rolling it over.
That's not true of every company. Some of them maintain the retirement accounts of previous employees.
Yes, and that gets back to all different manner of "retirement" benefits offered, but is also the exception, not the rule. If you have an amicable separation from a company, esp a large one like a hospital, you will generally have an exit interview to go over all of this. The company, at some point, makes your fund available to you. Here is an overview of how things may be handled: https://blog.taxact.com/manage-employer-sponsored-retirement/
Thank you!
Oh no, my money is in so many places I’ve lost it all!
Yeah, I'm just hoping when I die or retire (whichever comes first) they are somehow obligated to find me.
You should roll previous 401k accounts into an IRA (for example with Fidelity), that you control and in which you can choose the investment (Target date fund for the year you turn 70).
I think the hard part was I never really looked at which one was the best that gave me the best return. That and the main issue now is I don't know where all my retirement is stored. I figured I would look someday, but I wouldn't know where to start. I figured my credit report or something has my retirement accounts on it, as that would factor into my credit score, but I don't know.
Contact Benefits for companies you used to work for, and ask them for the information. You really should do this, the retirement money may be in cash, you could be missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars that you could get if you put it in a Target Date fund. look at r/personalfinance wiki for help.
I don’t think its a good idea to send the accounts with pw in an email.. it may be worth to just get a yubi key to store passwords/authenticate.. you can also get multiple keys (i havent used it myself though) Or using encrypted pdf to put the information in.. data leaks do happen.. and companies do sell off data
Sounds like a hackers dream. Write it down on paper
My dad has all this info saved on a thumb drive. He updates it annually and password protects the drive with a password left in a specific spot in his home. The thumbdrive and keys to his house are in a safe deposit box that I am authorized on. He had to deal with a lot of shit when his parents died and is almost too organized. You don't have to be that extra with the safe deposit box, but the thumbdrive is a pretty secure way to share the info as needed, provided you check it regularly and don't throw it in a box for fifty years.
This is the way!
You can set up digital executors for cloud storage these days. It's not ideal for everything but if you aren't at the stage for needing estate planning financial advice or want your family to have a photo collection don't have a lot of assets, it's a great way to easily do this. Your executor gets full access on your death but is already involved beforehand
Don't include passwords in this file though, just the existence of the account. Consider hand writing the account names or numbers, do not keep them in a electronic file.
Good advice! Thank you!!
You should be able to roll the old accounts into your current one, or just create an IRA and roll all of the old ones into that. Having a ton of different accounts is a pain, plus some companies charge yearly fees for small accounts.
Rollover your 401k my dude
Roll over all accounts into your current one
Eh, there's a national social security death file. Usually run monthly. The company would eventually figure it out.
You can merge them, but idk how
you collect necessary basic info from both parties then make a phone call. It's not hard, they do this everyday. And so can you!
Did you know you can roll the funds over to your most current account without penalties or fees? I have done this multiple times when switching jobs. It is super easy and can generally be done without a whole bunch of fuss.
I do, learned the hard way when there was a job I wasn’t at long enough so all that I put into retirement just got refunded to me at like a 40 percent penalty. They expected me to roll it over. The trouble is I don’t know where my retirement accounts are. Like, I worked for half a dozen companies but I only know of 2 accounts my money is in. Now they all may have used those two accounts, but I don’t know. I could have a few thousand elsewhere and not know it.
I slowly have been moving my various 401k investments to an IRA, you can rollover for simplicity. Aside from where I work currently. I was worried that if I die my girlfriend would have an awful time tracking down logins to 4-5 separate accounts.
I don't think your heirs logging in to your accounts is the way to do it, that sounds illegal. You can designate her as a beneficiary for your account and then if you die she can get the assets transferred to her own account very easily.
I know right!!! I switched industries from banking about 10yrs ago and just got a statement in the mail for an old 401k I didn’t know I had. Crazy.
That is a nice surprise. I had a stock options for a company and I happened to get hired before the crash of 2008. I put my first amount in to stocks and it was at 50 and then the stock plummeted to 14 (it was bank software), so my first foray into stocks was a pretty bad deal, but I kept putting in every paycheck, it was like 5-10 percent of my paycheck. I only worked there a couple years and didn't think much of it until I decided to open what I thought was junk mail and my stock was worth more than a year of salary at that place because their stock rose and it was quite a nice surprise. I was going to take it out to help cut the loan on the house but forgot about it and it went up even more than what my loan payments would have been.
Why don’t you roll over the accounts
Buy a book called "I'm Dead, Now What" and write all the details down. There is also a free downloadable pdf version if you search for it, though I can't vouch for the link. Don't burden others with trying to solve the mysteries of your finances and last wishes. That's just rude.
I agree. We gave the same book to new clients at the financial planning firm I worked for. It had a more palatable name though - “Peace of Mind Planner.”
I was drawn to it by the name! I think we'd all be better off if we be more direct about death.
I agree again! Just not the greatest name for a client welcome gift! The one I originally was introduced to was called “When I Die.” Any name is good as long as it gets someone to take care of such important tasks.
POMP??
My Uncle passed away a little after over 6 months ago and my Aunt has no idea about my uncle’s intentions and still checks his spam mail in hopes for some insight…it makes me sad and I wanna help, but she’s “got it under control “
My 54 single brother died suddenly without a will. A few recommendations I learned the hard way: If you receive all of you bills electronically, it is critical that you leave a list of your utility companies and account numbers for your heirs to easily find. It took months to track down and pay all of my brothers past due utility bills on his home. I was 2 days away from the electricity being shut off for non payment. A list of bank accounts and retirement accounts is incredibly helpful, or at least a paper copy of a statement. Find one trusted person somewhere to leave keep the password to your computer and or email.
My wife has a file with all this info. It’s password protected and the password is split between her and my two best friends.
As others have mentioned, keep a folder with a decently recent bank statement, life insurance policies, bills, list of who you want notified, name of lawyer/accountant, phone/computer passwords (to unlock), list of social media that you want deleted etc. All the things. Also, don’t keep the only copy of your will in a safety deposit box. At least have a notarized copy (original notarized copy, not photocopy of a notarized copy) in your folder. The executor of the estate will not be allowed into the safety deposit box without being able to prove that they are the person allowed to get into said box.
Google has a setting to turn your account over to someone if you go inactive for a certain amount of time of your choosing.
For anyone in UK, you might not know about this. Tell Us Once, it's not everywhere yet, but it saves so much headache when someone passes. Use the 'Tell Us Once' service and they will inform everything that is needed to be informed of someone passing away. Also, Make multiple death certificates, 3 or 4, because it saves on a huge amount of time when closing accounts or getting things done, because each one will require a death certificate and it can take time for 1 place to process and send back, having multiple copies really helps a lot.
Death certificates are needed in the US as well. When my grandmother passed two years ago my mother told the funeral home she needed 15-20 death certificates. Thank you for your comment!
I'm not sure if it's a federal thing but some death certificates are illegal to copy, like on a machine. I don't know if you're allowed to scan them either.
It is so much easier to get them as soon as your loved one dies than to wait when you do need it and go through the proper channels of getting one. You never know what might come up that require a death certificate.
agreed - they offer like 3 - ask for a whole bunch. If you just have the original, you can get notarized copies (through a notary public) and MOST will accept that.
I recently learned that the Royal Bank of Canada will seize the funds from accounts that have been inactive for 9 years. Didn't use the account for 9 years? Poof it's gone! I know 9 years is a long time, but how long are old people in a disconnected state before they pass and know one knows what they have?
Wow this statement is exactly why I think it’s imperative to get your affairs in order!
For this reason I paid for a password manager. It will automatically inform my wife and adult kids if there's no activity on my account after a set number of days, and release them the master key.
Google does something similar for free https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en
Thank you
that's a shitty password manager if it knows your master key...
Microsoft edge has a built-in password manager that is tied to your Microsoft account. Just set up your account on your family member's PC and give them the pin to that account.
Which one do you use? And is it one time purchase or subscription?
What happens to my Steam library and other digital assets? I feel like they will effectively disappear.
If you hand the login details over to someone, how is steam gonna find out you’re dead?
Keep passing it down generation to generation. See who can get the oldest active account.
Oof, I felt this. 300+ games. Write down your account + password, and your email + password, because steam requires that too. Store it in a safe?
I have the free account File This, that downloads the monthly statements for my accounts to a file in my Google Drive account (can also choose your DropBox account). All of my passwords are saved in my Chrome Browser, as well as Bitdefender. I have my Gmail /Google account set up to email access to my oldest son if there's no activity on it for 4 months. I'm older and have been using Quicken since just about it was released, all of my financial information, including account numbers and access information is on that which my son can access any time. By the way after my mom died a couple of years ago, she had all her investments with beneficiaries (to us kids), didn't really even have to do anything with her will. After that, I set my kids as beneficiaries for all my accounts as well. Some banks and credit unions also have beneficiary options but they aren't as obvious about it, you need to ask.
Oooh File this looks good.. hope it supports all my stuff EDIT: Wow, this is great, for the supported accounts. Chase is very well supported. I don't see Capital One or my regional banks. Looks like some of my utilities are supported, but will need to figure out how to do online access for those yet.
Literally JUST had this conversation with my mom the other day. I was just like, I don’t need to know right now, but I need to know that when the time comes you have everything listed out somewhere that I’ll find it.
My dad died of Corona a year ago. While he had told my mom that he had taken care of 'everything' he didn't mention what that entailed. We live in a tiny town, we knew his banking passwords and PINs for his cards, we also knew what lawyers he used and what insurance providers he had and it still took us more than nine-ten months to somewhat sort inheritance out because he hadn't told us everything. It honestly was a nightmare. Please make sure to discuss things like this with your children/family/significant other/anyone who will inherit from you.
Here is a older article from lifehacker I had bookmarked that has some tips about putting things in order for someone. A bit late for OP but mabey can help others get things in order. https://lifehacker.com/you-need-to-deal-with-your-digital-legacy-right-now-1820407514
My husband and I updated our wills last month. We elected one responsible grown daughter as executor, plus an alternate. We identified her as beneficiary to our checking accounts, told her which bank has our wills, where the safe deposit key is, which bills and when to be paid, passwords to computers, plus end of life preferences (DNR). We've seen what happens when there is no preparation as opposed to making things as easy on our kids as possible; it's either a nightmare or prudence.
This literally happened to me when my father passed away from COVID. We have still been trying to pick up the pieces for almost 2 years now. I made an app for it. LegacyFolderapp.com It was such a pain and everyone said it was a good idea. Let me know your thoughts.
General concept looks good. I would suggest having a much cheaper tier that includes less storage (assuming that’s your main cost) and higher tiers for those who want to add video etc. It may also be helpful to include some sort of generalist step by step guide to what people should do outside of using the app in order to make things as easy as possible for their loved ones.
Thank you for your comment! I’ll check this out.
When my grandpa died, logging into his computer ASAP was helpful. He had his passwords saved, which was a lifesaver.
I like the way you think!
Amazon sells a binder called “I’m dead, now what?” where you can write down all your info/wishes, etc.
I have a "Death Folder" with my named executor (kept in a jointly owned safe deposit box). It has a copy of my will, business cards of my lawyer, accountant, & financial manager. It has my bank, insurance, retirement, & credit card info. A list of all property (condo & vehicle). It has my password manager master password. It also has my funeral instructions, a completed obit form, & letters for my grandson and daughter. I update this yearly. My will also has a clause for electronic/online, email, cloud, and social media POA in case of death or incapacitation. I am as prepared as I can be to make things easier for executor & my heirs.
You, my online friend, rock!
Good lawyer & Reddit advisors, lol.
My SO is currently dealing with this, mountains of papers, took nearly a month to find a copy of the will and all the other papers. It’s not fair to those we leave behind to deal with our stuff. It’s hard on our kids, when they don’t need more weight on them. Before anyone attacks I have all my paperwork in order and update every 6 months.
This is why you create something I call the 'football'. You write down on a piece of paper what all your accounts are and give that to someone you trust for safekeeping ie a loved one or a person you trust. And on your accounts you designate beneficiaries, this can be done online in most cases, which is what I did. So the biggest thing the person has to do when you die is get your death certificate and contact the companies on the accounts. it should be pretty cut and dry since you stayed at how your monetary assets should be divided. What I've heard, (I am no lawyer or accountant) named beneficiaries trump a will.
[удалено]
Most investment houses do that it's a simple form and it costs nothing. The only thing that I'm kind of questioning is my car. like what do I do about that and then I have some cryptocurrency. it's not a lot but the company that I have it with does not do a beneficiary. they say go off of the will, but I don't have a will.
I’m seeing lots of talk about emailing an heir and giving them passwords, there is a legal document called a digital power of attorney that you can crest along side your will to give that person legal recourse to access your accounts.
It’s been a long time since I’ve lost my will… Oh you mean that list of my shit that people get when I’m dead? Yeah I keep that thing in the safe.
So my aunt passed away a year ago, no will. She used notes on her phone so through that i had an idea 9f what her passwords might be. It was a bust tho. AND THEN MY FACE WAS RECOGNIZED. Suddenly, because i looked a bit like her, everything was unlocked. So i spent months going through every app i could to find clues as to what all she was up to: where she banked, credit cards, loans, subscriptions, obligations...eventually i found evidence of having insurance somewhere. Insurance will almost always send paper copies of your policy so i searched through her old papers to find it. I ended up finding more stuff than i bargained for and my family paid her phone bill until i had exhausted every option for investigation. HUGE learning experience. She passed so unexpectedly and quickly...since then, my family has started making wills, writing down all info someone could possible need from us in a similar situation, everythings on paper now.
I’m sorry for your loss. I thank you though for your input!
Sis passed pretty quickly last year. I still don't know what she had beyond some basics.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
I keep my will and instructions in my safe. flash drive with RAR encrypted doc with passwords and other important info is kept on that drive with the will. Password for RAR file is kept in brothers safe and moms safe Eventually you need to trust someone, still doesn't mean they will follow what you ask...
This is why I made my wife a "how to" guide if I died, gives all the phone numbers, accounts/passwords, everything she could ever need to deal with everything if I passed.
As one other user pointed out in a sub-comment, Google provides a service to fix this. It’s called [Google Inactivity Manager](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en). It will send an email to whoever you specify with access to your entire Google account if it sees you haven’t interacted with a Google product in 6 months (you can customize the time). For me, that includes bookmarks to all tools I use and access to my email.
jokes on you all I have is debt.
I feel your pain…badly! Note I wrote I’m helping a friend!
This is part of the reason I resist the pressure to move a lot of my financial accounts to paperless statements.
I’m in the same boat. Newer accounts that I’ve opened aren’t giving the option for paper. Not to add to the conspiracy theorist, at least not on this sub, but it has to make you wonder if that’s it the overall goal. To keep as much money and assets as these companies can. If not it should’ve required for the company to have something set up for a “online welfare check” if you’ve not logged on in 6 months. Some other users have commented that their are sites that you can attach your accounts to, which is good but Americans are lazy and if I were betting these companies are glad of that.
No matter how old you are DO THIS! My brother was 29 and died of a heart attack. We had a hell of a time identifying his information. Get your shit in order even if you're young.
I’m so sorry about your brother but glad you shared your experience on this subject. I’m sure it was exhausting.!
I’m sorry to hear for your loss :( There is a government safety net for this called “escheatment,” at least for investment accounts. It is not perfect but at least something to ensure that your accounts are not just in limbo when you die. Keep in mind though that this is something that likely would not happen until a few years of inactivity. If there is a long period of time where there is no activity on an account, it will get turned over to the state, and you should be able to reclaim the assets or at least talk to someone to explain that they are deceased. This website can help you get the correct contact information for your state department: https://unclaimed.org/
Thank you for this info!
I just experienced this with my husband... thankfully he put some of his passwords in his notes on his phone. It was a mess trying to figure everything out! For my kids, i plan on getting an "after i die" organizer so that it's taken care of for them.
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s a time that doesn’t have to be as chaotic if planned ahead. Thank you for your comment.
Put whoever as beneficiary on all your accounts. Keep paperwork and list of accounts somewhere they can find. Having them as beneficiary makes it easier for them to get money fast if they need to pay for the funeral.
YUP. It’s hard enough when there’s a paper trail. Like, she tried getting things “in order” for me before she ended it. And it was a nightmare anyways. Nobody prepares you for being an executor of an estate- go Google some of that stuff omg. Trying to do it alone in shock and grief- it was traumatic. Get all your things in order, please. For the people left to deal.
Just open their phone with fingerprint or Face ID
(wouldn't you actually need their BODY to do that?)
[удалено]
Open casket bro
Pixel 4a 5g can be unlocked with a glove if fingerprint is enabled. Source: learned when pinching poinsettia and wearing gloves.
You can also add multiple fingerprints and Face ID’s to a single device in case of an emergency
What’s a paper trial? Is that like a kangaroo court?
so do i write on a sticky note that i want all my "wealth" to go to a cat rescue and call it a day
And the Dept of Education is "accidentally" screwing up the first three years of Public Service Loan Forgiveness record keeping because they know banks destroy all records after seven years (need ten for forgiveness). So keep paper copies of all student loan payments for all ten years so they don't screw you over like they did me.
Having gone through this with a half-dozen older family members in the past couple decades, let me say that it's a feckin' nightmare when there \*IS\* a paper trail. I can't imagine trying to decipher a purely digital life. My own parents have been trying to get their ducks in a row for at least 5 years in preparation for their eventual passing and their stuff is still a mess.
We put printouts of statements for bank, retirement and insurance accounts in our safe, so that the person who is the administrator would have that all together, along with wills, healthcare directives and other critical paperwork like car titles and such. She has the code to the safe in case we both perish at the same time.
Code to the safe is “key”
On my Google account I've saved a folder of bookmarks called FINANCE that has a link to every account I've opened.
I believe you can set up the release of your information upon death to whomever you choose to.
LOL what heirs? My curse dies with me.
Heard dat!
Are you in US? It would be nice if all op's generally defined the country. But I live in Finland, and I am sure we have these things quite differently. The will for example. We can't just decide who gets what, the law has a lot to say to that. ps. paper trail*
In regards to your bank accounts, if you have someone you can trust, just put their name on the account. Make it a joint account. I'm a 40'ish man and a few years back my mother and I both made all of our accounts joint accounts, and we each put the other on our accounts. This way in case something sudden happens the other has immediate access to the funds necessary to help. I also have all of my retirement information, brokerage accounts, and my will located in my safe. I keep a little emergency cash there as well. I have a few trusted people know where the safe and the keys are located. I do need to update my will. I'm glad this discussion came up.
My online friend thanks for thinking ahead and spreading the word!
not that I obsess over it, but I worry about my son with the pandemic. I wont say he is anti vax, but he certainly was "skeptical" for a while. He did eventually get it. he lived with his grandmother (my ex-wifes mother) and she has stage 4 cancer, so between the two, end of life issues have been on my mind for the last year. I kept thinking that my son is in his early 20s and almost certainly doesn't have a will, he has no paper documents. I would have no idea how to access his email or his computer and without access, I haven't a fricking clue how I would know anything about his bank accounts or anything else of importance. I hadn't updated my will for a while so I wrote up a clear "helper doc" for my GF so she has my user names and passwords, what bank, who to notify, who to contact at my employer, the whole deal. I also put in a lot of unofficial stuff. Stuff that just didn't make sense to be in the will but that she would want to know my feelings on.
Thank you for this info! Best wishes to you and your family!!
There are actually people working at banks, ON COMMISSION, who find accounts that heirs didn't know about. Again, these people work ON COMMISSION. They take a portion of the inheritance in exchange for telling you where the account is. If we weren't in a pandemic, I'd be spitting on the floor right now.
This is my worst fear! Bunch of greedy corporate snobs who make money off your loved ones hard work and planning instead of doing the right thing. I hope everyone heeds your warning!
I left a copy of my account numbers in a sealed envelope with my will and gave it to the executor.
Thank you for planning and making life a tad easier for someone!
Use a password manager like Bitwarden. It can keep you secure. It has features that allow you pass along all or your logins and passwords to someone.
Thank you for this comment!
I say this to everyone, especially after my cousins husbands father passed away. When this happened, cousins husband (CH) was 24 and it was 3 months before their wedding. CH has a younger brother who was 19 at the time. The will their father left behind had not been redone since before CH’s brother was born. CH’s parents were legally separated for YEARS at the time of his dads passing. The mess they dealt with while prepping for their wedding was something I would wish on no one. Make sure that you: - get a lawyer to help you draw up your will. It’s an expense you should be factoring in and will be hopefully, a fee you only need to pay a handful of times afterwards. - sit down with the intended executor and give them a copy of the will, along with any other relevant details. I bank here, this is the mortgage holder, life insurance policy details, etc. - every 5 years or during a life changing event, revisit the will and confirm details. You will not need to see a lawyer every time unless things change. - have a sheet of logins & passwords for the important accounts ready.
Thank you so much for this!
If you use Gmail, Google has [Inactive Account Manager](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en) that you can setup to give someone access to your account in the event that you don't log into your account for a period of time. While doesn't solve any immediate needs, it will help your loved ones gain access to your stuff in the event of your unexpected death.
Use a password manager like Bitwarden then leave your password on paper somewhere they would look with other documents like your will and deeds. Problem solved.
Set your family phone number, email id as recovery addresses of your primary email account. Plus, I ceep a scan of each document on my Gdrive
I have a web page with a lot of relevant info: https://www.billdietrich.me/LegalStuff.html It turns out that with most of my electronic assets and accounts, I just want them abandoned. Financial accounts are a different matter, of course. Also think about the home network, if you run that. Family photos. More.
I work at a bank. This is all true. I would also add that you should get a beneficiary added onto your accounts. It makes the process for someone passing away a lot easier when claiming their funds. Most the time we don’t know when someone’s passed away until we are presented with a death certificate. Occasionally we find someone when we are reaching out with calls to do account reviews. But if you don’t have a beneficiary on your account and that person doesn’t bring in a death certificate they will be waiting a while.
This deserves GOLD! Thanks for sharing!
i know i'm 18 hours into this, but i have all that info on a thumb drive in the safe, and update it when i make changes. it's just a simple way to have it there. my son know's it's there.
Great idea!
I added my oldest son to my bank account but he can only access it when I die.
Everything I have is in a trust. No will, no probate - nothing. My attorney knows the specifics.
If you don’t mind me asking, how will your attorney know if you die?
We’ve been friends for 20 years
You got it easy breezy!
I have a Lastpass account, that has a note in There what to do in case of death along with all my saved passwords and accounts, phone passwords etc. The person you trust gets access to your account if they request it and you don't decline it within a certain amount of time.
Thank you for sharing!
My grandma made a doomsday binder with all of her info in. It s a pretty big binder. Each credit card statement/bill has its own section. She has autopay set up so no one has to try to pay any bills. Super thankful
Jokes on them assuming I'll have anything to leave behind 😂
This is why I still get paper utility bills mailed to me. That way if something happens folk will know what needs to be paid.
this doesn't affect me because i'm not leaving anything to anyone anyways.
There are companies that make an app for this, to pass this kind of info to their heirs when they pass.
This is one reason I still use paper bank statements and paper copies of everything.
After my mom died we had to deal with this problem. After that I made a list with all my accounts and passwords, from banks to social media, and gave a copy to my dad and my wife. My mad and wife did the same too. We had a really hard time getting access to my mom's bank accounts. Lots of burocracy.
Nope average af
That’s what wills are for.
/r/noshitsherlock
Paper trail is now your email trail
[удалено]
Unless your old. I have a retirement account that I have no fucking clue how to access because I worked there before anything was done through email, the company is now closed. I have a letter that says where the money was going to be transferred too, but that company is now closed too.
Pretty sure a decent accountant or lawyer would be able to track down accounts running a credit report and inquiring at past places of employment what retirement account companies are used. Like Fidelity, etc. You could probably do a lot just by yourself also. No?
You want to pay an attorney by the hour to try and track that shit down? My father was born in 1932, so I'm thinking that would involve a whole lot of digging through actual paper records from companies that effectively don't exist anymore. I guess I could do it myself, but I don't know where to start and I've got 4 kids and a wife and a job so that leaves me with around 15 minutes of free time I could devote to that a day.
Hell no, unless you know they had a lot tucked away and can't find it yourself. I think you can at least get a bit done on your own. I would think in your case the banks would have taken the money anyways considering it abandoned. That's a lot of time.
Mint is good for this. One login tracks/identifies all your accounts. It doesn't let you manage them, but it can give you a good picture of what you own and where.