Cleaning up the Mess after your Dad thought his Estate planning was enough

What to do when you thought your Dad had everything organized and in one-place. Because estate planning is easy isn’t it? But it wasn’t organized, a matter of fact is a was a Mess!

My interview with Shannon this week will bring some clarity to some of the issues around getting prepared for the unknown. Things you thought you had organized but really didn’t.

Why? Because you didn’t think it would happen! You didn’t think you would ever have to face the idea or the concept of death, or sickness. But we all know that it isn’t that simple. I talk about this in every episode of my podcasts. We don’t think anything is going to happen to us, but I’m here to tell SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN!

Where have you put your stuff?? I think that is truly a great name for it. Because we could use other words but I won’t in the blog!!

We have sometimes put a few items together, for example a Will or a Power of Attorney but in a lot of cases we don’t know where it is, or where it has been stored. Is there a bank security deposit box that you own? How do you access a Bank security deposit box? Where is the security deposit box? Family or loved ones, have a difficult time trying to access the box especially during Covid 19 Pandemic. We have found a lot of the banks are closed and where your security deposit box is will be even more difficult to access. You have to arrange an appointment, and schedule the paperwork with a Bank employee to access the box. You will need to have authorization and a key for the box. What if you don’t have these things or even know if there is a box? That will tie into the “Unclaimed Money” that you can google to find Loved one’s accounts that you knew nothing about.

Organizing your estate, your plans, your wishes. Is it easy? It really isn’t as easy as you thought. We don’t realize how new rules in Law for your own area affect our planning. How we don’t receive any paper form of documents or bills anymore, it’s all digital which in turn makes it very difficult to know what needs to be paid, or closed or even where are the accounts. Estate planning is really only when we pass away, or that we are unable to live our life on our own. But also, remember we could also have many other circumstances in our life that would affect our lives drastically. And why not be prepared for that too!

Shannon’s story is a very interesting and motivating for everyone to really think about the issues around preparing and executing a plan. Just when you think you have done everything, or think you have, YOU HAVEN’T!

Shannon’s story is like everyone’s story really. Her passion for trying to know the basics before her Dad even passed away. They had discussions about issues, paperwork, his current will, and where things were put if she had to find anything. But, it has been now 6 years later and she is still trying to tie up loose ends of his estate, both personal and his business.

You won’t want to miss this great discussion this week on Cleaning up the Mess when your parents have passed away.