New Year’s Resolutions – Getting my affairs in order!
I don’t know about you, but I can’t help but make a few New Year’s Resolutions every year. One I suggest to my clients is getting their estates in order. I know this task looms over many of us, but somehow years can go by without getting it done. To help make 2025 the year you accomplish this, I have laid out the following month-by-month plan that helps make this project doable.
January & February: Prepare a Will and Living Will
68% of Americans do not have a will and 55% do not have a living will (also known as an advance directive). Too often people think they don’t need a will, think making one will cost too much, or just don’t know where to get started. But it is strongly recommended that everyone over 18 have a will – even those who believe they don’t have many assets. Here are a few steps you can take to prepare a will:
1) Create a list of your assets & decide who you want to get what. Assets can be financial, property, art, intellectual, and just stuff. Be sure to include items that may not be "high value" but that have sentimental value. Identify your beneficiaries for your financial and property assets but also make a list of who you want to receive your more sentimental items as well. It is often these items that can cause tensions among survivors. Make a note of why you want them to have these things - they will appreciate knowing your rationale behind your gift.
3) Choose an executor to handle your estate. This is the person who will close your estate after your death. This should be someone who has the skills and the time. A common mistake is to make this "the oldest child" or a person who makes sense based on role in the family but who might be ill-suited to the task.
4) Make arrangements for all your children. Choose a guardian and make financial arrangements for your children AND your pets – aka our furry children.
5) Hire an estate planner to help draw up your will and living will. Hiring an estate lawyer to draw up your will can cost anywhere from $500 for a very basic will to several thousands of dollars for a more complicated estate. I know, that sounds like a lot of money. But it is an important investment in yourself and your loved ones. In Colorado, the Women’s Estate Planning Council is a good resource for this (full disclosure, I’m a member).
March: Update Your Beneficiaries
One of the most common and potentially costly estate planning errors is not updating your beneficiaries. You should review your beneficiaries after every major life event – such as a marriage, divorce, birth or death. It is relatively easy to check and review these – either online or by requesting the necessary document with the administrator. As part of the process of making your will, your estate attorney will most likely review these with you.
Why are accurate beneficiaries so important? Beneficiary forms trump last wills and testaments in court. So even if your will says you want to leave everything to your spouse, if your insurance policy or other asset names someone else as a beneficiary, the asset will go to that beneficiary. If you have no named beneficiaries your assets may pass to your estate or be forced into probate – which can be very costly.
April & May: Complete Your End-of-Life plan
Putting in writing what you want to happen in the last days of your life and after your death is another critical estate planning task. The more you specify and arrange in advance the easier you will make it for your loved ones during their time of grief. As part of my services at Good Death Matters, I can help you get your desires down on paper to share with your loved ones. Together we will answer the following questions:
1) What you want to happen to your body when you die?
2) How do you want to spend your final days and hours?
3) What do you envision for your celebration of your life?
4) How do you want to preserve your legacy?
June: Set up Your Legacy Accounts
As part of any end-0f-life plan, you need to be sure to name your digital beneficiaries – just like you would do for any other financial asset such as a life insurance policy or 401k. It’s not a bad idea to do this both in your will and directly through Google and/or Apple.
July & August: Organize Your Digital Accounts
It is estimated that the average person has 207 distinct online accounts! More and more of our financial and personal assets (photos etc.) are only accessible on-line. Getting all these passwords in order can take time but it is a task definitely worth doing! I recommend that my clients organize their passwords into a password manager tool. There are so many to choose from, but I like 1Password – the password manager recommended by Wirecutter at the NY Times. I’m not going to lie, getting all your accounts into a password manager takes some work – but that’s why you have the lazy summer months to do this!
September & October: Organize Your Important Paperwork
If you are like most people, you have boxes, file cabinets, and drawers full of paperwork. A folder with all your “house stuff,” another labeled “cars,” and maybe another called “retirement.” This year, make a resolution to get all your important paperwork in order. From basic information like your birth certificate and passport, to retirement planning documents, to insurance documents, and more, pulling everything together so it’s in one secure place will give you and your loved ones piece of mind and make things easier for everyone. Another tool I like to use for this is Trustworthy, a secure digital vault where you can upload and store your information. Indeed, Trustworthy can be a great place to store all the work you’ve done to date – your will and living will, your end-of-life plan, your draft obituary, etc.
November: Share Your Plans with Loved Ones
This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people do not share their estate plans with their loved ones. As 2025 comes to close and we head into the holidays, this can be the perfect time to let those you love know what you want and what they need to know to manage your affairs after you die.
December: CELEBRATE
Congratulations you did it! By chipping away a piece at a time you will end 2025 with peace of mind – for yourself and those you love! Treat yourself to something special to mark this accomplishment.
Still need some help getting started or an “accountability buddy” to keep you going? Contact me today to see how together we can make this happen for you in 2025.
