Creating a File Locator for Your Estate Planning Documents.

Organizing can be fun and cathartic at the same time. If you have caught the tax season organizing bug, consider creating a File Locator for your important documents.

On a blank sheet of paper or in a Word document, create a table with three columns. The column headings will be:                                    
Item          Where to Find           Whom to Contact

Now create rows for categories that apply to you ...

• Bank Statements: checking, savings and brokerage
• Loan Documents: car, mortgage, etc.
• Leases: car, home, equipment
• Brokerage and Investment Statements
• Stock Certificates and Other Securities
• Retirement Plan Statements
• Employee Benefits
• Income Tax Records (keep 7 years worth)
• Birth Certificates
• Marriage Certificate (notice it is not plural...only one marriage, right?)
• Divorce Decree (if applicable)
• Domestic Partnership papers
  
• Will
• Trust
• Durable Power of Attorney
• Advance Health Care Directive
• Life Insurance Policies
• Medical and Dental Insurance
• Personal Liability and Umbrella Insurance Policies
• Home Insurance Policies
• Long Term Care Policies
• Automobile Policies
• Funeral Instructions and Cemetery Plot Information
• Safe Deposit Box and List of Contents
• Computer Files and Passwords (this is optional)
• Social Security Statements

For each row, jot down where the original document can be found or is stored and write down a contact information such as your banker or insurance agent.

So, the whole idea is to make a File Locator that indicates where your important files are located. And this File Locator can be given to key loved ones so they can locate important documents if needed.

Taking the time to do this is very important. It was very hard to sort through financial records and other personal documents belonging to my parents when they died. It wasn't that hard to eventually find everything, but the emotional cost was high in that I realized that my Dad (he died after my Mom) never thought to organize his papers for his kids.

Comments

[Jessica Duquette]

Thank you for outlining this very useful way of keeping track of important documents. I am a professional organizer, and my clients are forever wondering how to track the paperwork that is valuable but doesn't need to be accessible at all times. Some of these papers need to be in a safe deposit box or a safe in the house, and others can be in plastic (weather-proof) file bins in a less accessible location such as a garage or attic.

[Jennifer Sawday]

Jessica,

I am glad to offer some additional organizing tips. Paper can pile up fast, so it's best to sort through it at least annually. Think of it as doing your loved ones a favor rather than a chore. And, of course, storage is also an important component.

Jenni