Plan for the future: take the time to plan your estate

A person may work 40 years to accumulate assets and spend 10 to 20 years conserving that accumulation, but all too often only takes two hours or less to plan for distribution of the assets. Through good planning, a wonderful chapter of your life can be completed. However, too many times there has been little planning, or sometimes no planning, and the last chapter of life becomes burdensome for family members. 

A little estate planning can go a long way and create peace of mind. Several years ago, Saabira Chaudhuri wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal and wrote: “there are 25 documents every person needs to have updated and put into one place.” Here they are:
The Essentials:
-         Will
-         Letter of instruction
-         Trust documents
-         Financial Power of Attorney (POA)
Marriage
-         Marriage license
-         Other marriage papers
-         Military documents (DD214)
Health- Care Confidentiality
-         Durable Health-Care Power of Attorney
-         Authorization of Release Health-Care Information
-         Living will
-         Do-not-resuscitate order
Proof of Ownership
-         Housing, land and cemetery deeds
-         Escrow mortgage accounts
-         Proof of loans made and debts owed
-         Vehicle titles
-         Stock certificates, savings bonds and brokerage accounts
-         Tax returns
Life Insurance and Retirement
-         Life insurance policies
-         Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA)
-         401(k) accounts
-         Pension documents
-         Annuity contracts
Bank Accounts/Social Media
-         List of bank accounts
-         List of all user names and passwords
-         List of safe-deposit boxes
 
At the Diocese of Fargo, we have an excellent booklet called A Guide to Planning Your Will and Trust that helps people organize their personal documents, as well as their mind. For some folks, this process can seem overwhelming. This guide is designed to help you move forward with a plan that writes a very good chapter in the book of your life. It walks you through some of the terminology and encourages you to think about how you want your assets to be distributed at death and to assist you in gathering the information you will need.
 
If you would like a complimentary copy of this guide, please email me at [email protected], or mail a request to: Steve Schons, Diocese of Fargo, 5201 Bishops Blvd, Fargo, ND 58104.