“In Case of My Death” Plan
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We all die someday, hopefully after a long, happy and fulfilled life. A death plan will help your loved ones navigate through when they are already grieving for their loss. It will be extremely helpful to have your affairs organized and to communicate where to find all the important information they will need to know.
For Your Death Plan, you must have a Will and let your next of kin or executor know Where it is..
This is your chance to say what you want to happen with your property and any assets. You may even state your preferences for burial or cremation and your funeral, if you like. If you don’t have many assets or you are leaving everything to one person, you can download a free will that is very basic. Otherwise, it is best to have a lawyer write one for you to make sure it will be legally binding in the jurisdiction you live in. Depending on your circumstances, it may be less than five hundred dollars. Your lawyer will usually keep the original and give you a copy.
If you die without a will, BAD things happen. Your assets will be tied up in probate (the legal process of administering your estate). It could take months and months, sometimes more than a year, of stress and headaches for your loved ones, to finalize. At the end of the day, the government and lawyers could take a bigger chunk of your assets than you would like them to, leaving your loved ones potentially with far less.
You will also want to have Power of Attorneys for finances and healthcare (advance directives) if you become incapacitated if you are alive.
Plan your funeral...
If you are super organized, you can pre-plan your funeral. Most young people don’t think they’re going to die, at least anytime soon, so they may not give this any thought. At the very least, let your next of kin know your preferences for burial or cremation, whether you want to be an organ donor or any other ideas you may have.
Buy life insurance to cover expenses...
Depending on your circumstances, you may need a little or a lot or none. If you have dependents or a lot of assets you may want more. If you are single and don’t care about having a basic cremation and no funeral you probably won’t need any. At this time the Canadian government gives everyone a death benefit of no more than $2500, which doesn’t go far. The average funeral costs are $6500-$7500 and cremation with a funeral service is about a third of that.
As a property investor, I used to believe, that if I died suddenly, my kids would be allowed to keep making the mortgage payments on the properties until they could be sold or have the ownership transferred over to them. Apparently, that is not the case. They would need to qualify themselves to take over the mortgage payments and if they couldn’t qualify, the bank could come in and sell it at what they deemed market value.
Organizing your documents is crucial in your death plan...
Keep a list of all important documents in one place and let your next of kin know where to find it. You may have a basic list in your file cabinet, filed under “D” for death, or something similar, giving further instructions where to find them and any key or lock combination. The actual documents can go in a fireproof safe or safety deposit box. Where ever you put it, your next of kin would have to know to look there and how to access them. Be kind and leave a trail of breadcrumbs for them, metaphorically speaking.
Make a list of all accounts with contact information, and online usernames and passwords...
What you need in your death plan...
Insurance policies...
- Life insurance
- Health insurance
- Car insurance
- House insurance
- Other insurance
Bank accounts...
- Checking
- Savings
- Joint accounts (Good to have so your account won’t be automatically frozen and your bills can still be paid.)
- Money market accounts
- Debit cards
Credit cards...
- Card numbers
- Expiration dates
- Recent account statements
Mortgages, Loans, Titles or Deeds to any property and valuables...
- Bank or company that holds mortgage or loan and contact information
- Copy of mortgage or loan agreement
- Real estate
- Motor vehicles
- Boats,etc.
- Any valuables such as expensive jewelry, art or antiques – certificates of authenticity and appraised value
Investment portfolio...
- Stocks
- Bonds
- Mutual funds
- TFSAs
- RESPs
- Other
Tax returns...
- Returns for past seven years if self employed, or at least past two years if not.
- Pertinent receipts, tax deductions and documents for current year.
Pensions...
- RSPs
- Employee Pension Plans
- Employee Profit Sharing Plans
Wills, trusts and POAs...
- Copy of will
- Name of attorney or law firm, if applicable
- Declarations of trust or Trust agreements
- Bank accounts associated with Trust
- POA documents
- Name of person or people appointed POAs
- Names of appointed guardians for minor children
Proof of identity and relationships...
- Social Insurance Number card
- Birth certificate
- Passport
- Marriage certificates
- Divorce certificates
- Prenuptial agreements
- Divorce agreements
- Child custody and support agreements
- Other
Household utilities...
- Electricity
- Gas
- Water
- Landline phone
- Cell phone
- Cable
- Internet
Automatically renewing medications...
- Names of medications
- Name of pharmacy where renewed
- Name of prescribing doctor
Email accounts...
- Gmail
- Hotmail
- Yahoo Mail
- AOL
- any other email account
Online businesses...
- Amazon
- Paypal
- Ebay
- other
Social media...
- other
Make a list of people to contact with contact information...
- Family and friends
- Lawyers
- Accountants
- Insurance agents
Everyone’s situation is different, so seek professional advice if needed, and gather and organize what ever documents and information needed to help your loved ones.
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