The more you can do to get a comprehensive estate planningin place, get organized, and communicate your wishes, the greater the burden you remove from your loved ones shoulders. All tasks are easier, if youre alive and well, providing guidance.
Remove a Burden by Organizing Your Stuff
If youre a pack rat, go through your things on a regular basis and purge. If an item is in good shape, but youre not going to use it, hold a yard sale or give it to charity.
Many charities will pick up furniture, household goods, tools, toys, books, and clothes at your home. Donations are tax deductible.
Remove a Burden by Organizing Your Paper Work
If youre like many folks, you dont know what papers to keep and what to shred or recycle.
Keep most recent financial statements, important certificates (death, marriage, divorce, and adoption), military and immigration papers, current estate planning documents, titles, deeds, and original insurance policies and contracts. If you can get the information online or you have more recent information, you, likely, dont need to keep redundant papers.
Shred any papers that have a current account number or social security number. Recycle everything else.
For More Information
For more information on removing a burden from your loved ones shoulders, please kindly read part two of this article, Planning with an Estate Plan(and More) Removes a Great Burden (Part 2 of 3). Well discuss providing a list of contacts and usernames.
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