Let Your Family Know About Your Accounts

Even if you do not have a will, a trust, or any other parts of a complete estate plan, at least do one thing for your family before you die: Make a list of all your accounts with the following information:

• Institution where the account is located
  
• Account Number
  
• PIN Number or Password
  
• The name and phone number of the broker or account representative, if any
  
• Estimated balances

The accounts you should be on this list include but are not limited to:

• Checking and Savings Accounts at your primary bank
  
• Checking and Savings Accounts at any secondary bank (think online Savings Accounts)
  
• Retirement Accounts
  
• Credit Cards
  
• Mortgages
  
• Safe Deposit Boxes
  
• Insurance Policies

Also include information on how the bills are received (US Mail, Email, Website, etc) and paid (automatic draft, check, credit card, etc). Please do not leave your children in the dark because they do not know how to get the bill and how to pay for it. It is also helpful to leave your email addresses and passwords on this same list - often times you get notices or copies of bills at your email address that you may not receive in the mail.

Include on this list the name of any accountants or CPAs that may handle your tax matters, any attorney that you have worked with (especially if you have done any estate planning work with them), doctors, bankers, or other people that would have important information that your family would need to know.

After you have completed this list, let someone know where it is. If you want, you can seal it in an envelope to prevent disclosure of the information (you'll know when it has been tampered with). Do not leave it in your safe deposit box, however. If you are deceased, the bank will most likely seal the box until a court orders it opened.

If you fail to provide anyone with this information, your family will have to go through all your records to find this information. Some of it may be lost forever (if they don't know about that insurance policy, how can your family collect on it?) Your family will appreciate the fact that you were responsible and took the time to gather this information for them. Remember, you know best where your accounts are.