Family members who survive the death of a loved one need all the help that they can get. Stress and emotions are higher in this process. So, helping your family by setting up your estate planning before you die is an excellent way to give back to them after you have passed away. Today, we are sharing four areas to organize when setting up your estate planning. It shows them how much you care for them without being there to help them.
Here are areas to organize in your estate before you die to help the process go more smoothly for your loved ones.
Jump to:
- Bank accounts
- How to Create A Complete Bank Account List
- How to Create Effective Password Login Lists
- Investment accounts
- Insurance papers
- Legal documents
- Updated 2025: Important digital files and passwords.
- Tips for gathering all this information.
- How to Find The Perfect Downsizing Home
- Helping Aging Parents Downsize Their Stuff
- The Downsizing Talk with Aging Parents
- The Money Talk with Aging Parents
- Setting up Paper Management with Aging Parents
- Helping Aging Parents with Online Accounts
- The Legal Documents Talk with Aging Parents
Bank accounts
File your bank account statements in the correct folder to make them easier to find. Keep your paper and bank registers in order and up to date. Be sure to have a list of all your critical online accounts, including their login information and the contact information for each account. Keep Credit cards in one place so they can find them. They will need to cancel all your credit cards. Safe (affiliate) Deposit information should list another person's name. So they can get into the box after you are gone.
How to Create A Complete Bank Account List
There have been numerous dangerous weather-related emergencies over the years. Why not be prepared in case you need to leave your home quickly? This week, we'll discuss how to create a comprehensive bank account list for your preparedness binder.
How to Create Effective Password Login Lists
Do you have a long list of passwords? Do you want to manage them better and make them easier to access? Are you feeling overwhelmed trying to find the correct password?
Investment accounts
File your statements by account number. Have a list of your accounts and your broker's contact information in a safe (affiliate) place. Knowing where these papers are or how to log in online will make it so much easier to get the information. Be sure to have beneficiary information filled out in your investment accounts.
Insurance papers
Keep your insurance papers organized by type (auto, life, home) and store them in a fireproof safe (affiliate). Be sure to have beneficiary information filled out in your insurance (life insurance, specifically).
Legal documents
Keep your will, living will, trust, and other necessary legal documents in a fireproof place or a security box at your bank. You can also give a copy of this document to a trusted person as well, as a backup.
Below is the list of essential documents that should be kept safe (affiliate). These estate planning items above should be stored in this safe (affiliate) place as well.
Remember, the "safe (affiliate) place" should be fireproof and waterproof if possible. Check out our How to Organize Important Documents in a Fireproof Safe for tips.
Updated 2025: Important digital files and passwords.
I can't forget to talk about digital files and passwords. These days, we all have many passwords and two-step authentication, which may make it more difficult for others to access sites when we pass away. So, making sure they have access now will give you and them peace of mind.
LastPass offers a family plan that lets you share it with others. It's very affordable, and you can store important documents and all your passwords. Get prices and more information on their website.
Passwords are on every computer (affiliate), so be sure to share this information with your loved ones. Include phone passwords or PINs in your list of passwords you plan to give to loved ones.
Tips for gathering all this information.
There are some essential tips to keep in mind when you are finding these items. Below, I have listed several of them.
- I'm going to mention this again. Make sure someone has a key (affiliate) or is on the account for the bank's safety deposit box.
- If they have passwords digitally, make sure they are stored in a secure place online, like LastPass, and have them invite you or send an invite to a trusted family member.
- Keep your file folders (affiliate) labeled with detailed information in the title area. It is very frustrating to have to go through papers that are in a broad category folder.
- If you have a spouse, be sure to keep their paperwork (Will/Trust, Life insurance, Social Security card, etc) in a separate folder from yours. This will make it easier to find just your information.
- If you have digital files of your Will/trust, make sure it is on the computer (affiliate) labeled as such to make it easier for your family to find them.
Above all else, be sure someone knows where all these documents are and has access to them. It will help them find the paperwork when they need it. They will genuinely appreciate it.
If you are helping a loved one gather their belongings and paper documents for their estate, you can find more tips in these posts.
Visit our series on organizing estates for your parents
How to Find The Perfect Downsizing Home
Downsizing is not just for baby boomers or empty nesters. Many younger couples are looking to lighten their cost of living.
Helping Aging Parents Downsize Their Stuff
The previous post in this series was about having the downsizing talk with your parents. Now that you have talked with your parents. And they have agreed that it would be a good idea to simplify their lives. What's next?
The Downsizing Talk with Aging Parents
This series is all about helping aging parents. It grapples with the difficult conversations you may need to have as you get older. Here, I discuss how to have the downsizing talk with aging parents.
The Money Talk with Aging Parents
Discussing money with aging parents can be a challenging conversation. This post shares tips and tricks to help make the topic more approachable to your parents. This is near and dear to my heart because, as parents get older, they are more likely to experience identity theft.
Setting up Paper Management with Aging Parents
Now that we have started helping our parents downsize, we will need to assist them with managing their paperwork. Paper management for aging parents is more helpful when they are healthy, but it also benefits them when they are not.
Helping Aging Parents with Online Accounts
Online accounts can make your parents' life easier. These accounts can improve their quality of life by enabling them to deposit checks online and communicate with family members. This post discusses helping your aging parents with their online accounts.
The Legal Documents Talk with Aging Parents
After several weeks of discussing how to help your aging parents, this will be the final installment in this series. This post will help you discuss legal documents with your aging parents. It's a sensitive issue, so I'll leave it to the experts.
I know this is a morbid topic, but keep in mind that it will not only help you find things when you need them, but will also help your relatives deal with your estate much more smoothly, thereby reducing their stress during the process. If you need help organizing your financial papers, consult a professional or contact a Professional Organizer to help you get your loved ones' and your documents in order.
Read more from other experts to help you organize your estate planning.
12 Documents to Organize Now-Before It's Too Late
One Day, You're Going to Die. Here's How to Prepare for It
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Kathy Vines says
I'm grateful that my parents and my inlaws "get it" that this information is just as important to us as the wills and other papers they have. It may be a morbid discussion, but I always assure people: No one wants anyone to suffer and struggle even more than the mere loss of a loved one will bring.
Linda Samuels says
Death is part of life. And getting your papers and estate in order in advance is one of the best gifts we can give our loved ones. I've been on the receiving end of this process both with my family and also going through it with clients. There have been so many different scenarios. In the worst case, the stress caused to the living relatives trying to "find" everything was horrendous. In the best scenarios, the person that had passed had put all their affairs in order leaving on questions or hunting for things involved. And of course, there were other scenarios that were somewhere in between. I am so grateful to my in-laws and my parents for putting certain things in place. Grief is hard enough without having to also organize your deceased loved one's life.
Julie Stobbe says
I think passwords for closing online accounts is my biggest concern. I keep track of mine but other family members are not as diligent as me.
Seana Turner says
It seems morbid, but if you can deal with these issues when you are healthy and things are good, it is so much easier. There isn't that weight of impending doom that hovers when there is a serious health crisis also at play. My husband and I need to work a bit on this.
Sabrina Quairoli says
I understand it is morbid but looking at these areas and making sure they are organized and maintained will help your executor and family in the long run. I know first hand how much easier it was to deal with my dad's more organized estate than my mom's estate.