You’re not finished with taking care of your family, even after you’ve signed your trust documents and transferred your assets into the trust. There’s more work to do to plan for these transitions and help your family be best prepared for it. This involves three main steps:
- Planning the Party,
- Drawing the Map, and if need be,
- Drafting the User’s Manual.
Let’s take these one at a time.
PLAN THE PARTY: YOU’RE THE GUEST OF HONOR. Having sat through the miserable experience of planning my father’s funeral with my mother shortly after his untimely death, I can assure you that there are few better gifts you can provide your loved ones than preparing your final arrangements. The good news is that there are many terrific professionals who can help lead you through this sensitive process— and can even give you the option to fund it in advance.
Related issues include drafting letters to those closest to you, which are opened after your death. I make updating these letters to my children an annual ritual— and am often amazed how it helps me think through and deal with the present.
DRAW THE MAP. Recently I met with a widow and her children who reported that after her spouse’s death, they spent the next weeks on an unpleasant search through desks, closets, drawers and boxes, finding and piecing together key documents and bank and other account information.
Some simple lists can serve as priceless maps to the location of the documents and other treasures. Drawing this map is a simple way to show your love to your family— along with sparing them the anxious hunt. You can enlist their help— and, if need be, the services of a professional organizer and even a photographer.
CREATE THE USER’S MANUAL. For your family and your business, a map may simply not be sufficient. An outline of your directives, ideals, status and next steps with projects and people may be necessary to give desired meat to the bones of the trust document. This user’s manual is for your trustee, the person who is going to take charge of these ongoing situations after you are unable to. Think of the alternative: it’s like leaving the baby-sitter without those critical notes on the refrigerator— and the trustee cannot call you for explanations!
Having a user’s manual results in more peace of mind for you, less burdens on your family and more money to spend how you really want it to be spent.
© 2008 – 2023 Daniel P. Felix, all rights reserved.
