Start here
Three ways in. Pick the one that is true today.
You do not have to finish all of this. You have to write down enough that the next person is not guessing. Each path is a short order of operations and the workbook that carries it.
01
I am putting my own affairs in order
Name who speaks for you while you can still say it. Then the accounts, the property, the wishes.
01
Name who decidesHealthcare proxy and power of attorney, and the limits you set on each.
02
Write down where the originals liveThe will, the trust, the deed, the safe, the box, the attorney.
03
Map the accounts, not the numbersInstitution, account type, and who is named as beneficiary on file.
04
Tell two people where it livesTwo, not one. The one person you told may be in the car with you.
02
I am helping a living parent
Ask now, write the answers down once, and keep the originals where you can both reach them.
01
Ask one section at a timeNot the whole file in one sitting. Fifteen minutes is a full session.
02
Write in their wordsWhat they want is the record. Your summary is not.
03
Agree where the file livesOne place you can both reach without asking anyone for a key.
04
Prepare for the night it happensThe bag, the questions at admission, and who has to be told.
03
I am deciding about a funeral or a plot
Separate what is required from what is being sold. Before the appointment, not during it.
01
Get the itemized price listYou are allowed to ask for it before you discuss anything else.
02
Separate required from offeredVery little is required by law. Rules differ by state and by property.
03
Call the cemetery before the funeral homeWhat you hold is usually a right of interment, not the land.
The one-page starting checklist
Six things to find this week, free. It is the first page of the 72-Hour File, sent as a PDF. No account is created and there is nothing to cancel.
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