The Greatest Gift You Can Leave: A Roadmap

Dear Clients and Friends,

When people think about estate planning, the focus is usually on who inherits what. While those are vital questions, there is a another piece that is often overlooked: how your plan will actually be put into practice.

Imagine a loved one needs to take over your affairs during a health crisis or after you’re gone. Even a perfectly drafted plan can be stalled by something as simple as a missing password or a forgotten account. To make things easier for the people who will step into your shoes, we suggest organizing your “essential information” into three key areas:

1. Digital Access

In our tech-driven lives, an “unlocked” device is as important as a physical key. Being able to access a laptop, phone, or email makes for a far more efficient administration process. We suggest maintaining a secure list of the usernames and passwords for your key online accounts, such as email, banking, utilities, and subscription services. Using a trusted password manager with an “emergency access” feature is an excellent way to keep this secure but accessible to your named successors. Whatever method you choose, be sure to tell the people named in your estate plan how they can access your devices and online accounts in case of an emergency.

2. Financial Details

For someone acting as your Power of Attorney or Disability Trustee, understanding the day-to-day details of your financial life is integral to avoiding missed payments or overlooked investments.  Keep an up-to-date summary of all your assets and debts, including bank accounts, investments, insurance policies, and bill payments, to help guide your successor as they take over your finances. Don’t forget to include physical assets like safe deposit boxes, safes, or storage units, and note the instructions for accessing each (such as the location of keys). You should also list the contact information for your trusted advisors, such as your attorney, CPA, financial planner, and insurance agent, so your loved ones know exactly who to call for professional guidance.

3. Your “In Case of Emergency” Binder

Whether physical or digital, this binder should be the “go-to” resource for your successor, containing all the documents and information they need to step into your shoes. If you have planned with us, you already have a binder designed for this purpose. Be sure to tell your successors that this binder exists and where they can find it in an emergency.

Your binder should include:

• Estate planning documents (trust, will, power of attorney, health care proxy, etc.)
• Asset information (detailed list of assets, recent tax returns)
• Personal guidance for carrying out your estate plan, such as notes about caring for pets and/or minor children and “Letters of Instruction” detailing your personal wishes for things not strictly covered by legal documents

A Small Step That Makes a Big Difference

You don’t need to do everything at once. Even starting with a simple note about where key documents are kept can go a long way. If you already have a plan with us, now is a great time to review your binder and ensure its contents are up to date. At Eckert Byrne LLC, we believe that a true legacy isn’t just about what you leave behind, but how clearly you communicate the path forward.

If you don’t yet have an estate plan in place, this is a good time to start the conversation. We’d be happy meet with you to review what our process looks like and how we can create a plan that accomplishes your goals. If you’ve already worked with us, consider this a reminder to schedule a legal check-up. A quick review can help ensure your documents still reflect your current wishes and that everything is up to date.

Sincerely,

Anna