Some years ago a friend suddenly passed away. Both he and his spouse were unprepared for this and they had not recorded the large amount of information needed for her to move ahead with her life. This prodded me to develop a document called “When I Die”. I built one for me and for my wife, and though the two are very similar they are not identical. I then removed all the personal data and created a template to share with you. Because of the length of the template I will summarize it here, but you can find the full template HERE.
Not everyone will want to go into the detail that I did. Not all sections are applicable to everyone. But the nice thing about having the template is that you can tune it as you wish. What follows are the sections I developed and a few comments regarding the contents. My completed document runs 20 pages!
INDEX:
- Document Storage. Where is everything stored, with who, phone numbers, etc.
- Funeral arrangements, Obits, and Contact List. You might want to write (and periodically update) your own obit, determine where it should be placed, and identify the names/addresses of those who should be contacted if you die. This might include both friends and business associates.
- Legal documents. What do you have, where are they?
- Insurance
- Our House(s). Any information about your house that maybe only you know. Who plows snow? Takes care of lawn, etc.
- Timeshare Property
- Automobile(s)
- Taxes
- Pins, Passwords, Account and Telephone Numbers. Having a protected list of all accounts and passwords is particularly important. Will you want these accounts closed?
- Financials: Bank and Brokerage Accounts
- Computer and Electronics. In my house my spouse know little about where I bought things, how I get them repaired, SW I run regularly, etc.
- Spouse information. If a spouse is disabled you might need to record what has to be done if you are not around to take care of things.
- Personal Property. Any information about valuable personal property that, say, you children might be unaware of.