Where Are They?

Estate planning documents need to be kept in a safe place. But not in a place too safe.

In other words, the safe place has to be such a place where you can locate them again should you need to review them and a place where your loved ones can also find your documents if they are needed.

Your assignment today is to make sure you can locate your estate planning documents. Be sure you have the originals in your possession. Then contact your trusted loved ones and tell them where you are keeping your documents.

Estate planning documents should not be kept secret. Just safe so that they don't get lost or destroyed inadvertently. Yet not too safe that they cannot be easily retrieved when needed.

Case in point: I am assisting an elderly lady with locating estate planning documents for her adult child. She needs to locate his documents because he was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness and no longer has capacity. The mother is the next of kin as her child has no children or a spouse. It makes it hard for her to handle her son's affairs if she has to spend time looking for estate planning documents or spend money to get a temporary conservatorship from the court. We know that documents exist because we found some correspondence with an attorney and have proof that some of his assets are held in a trust.