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Estate Planning Alert: Do Your Executor a Favor

January 22, 2020

J. Grant Coleman

King & Jurgens

New Orleans, La.

It is certainly unpleasant to think about your death and even more unpleasant to think about dying unexpectedly. However, there are a few simple things that you can do in advance to make life easier for those who will be handling your estate after you have passed away. The following is a list of items or documents that you should think about collecting together in a location you identify to your executor:

• Copies of and location of original executed estate planning documents (will, general power of attorney, health care power of attorney, living will) 
• Information on advance funeral arrangements
• Copies of beneficiary designations of IRAs and qualified plans such as 401(k) arrangements
• List of all digital assets; digital accounts, with user IDs and passwords
• Copies of life insurance policies and beneficiary designations of life insurance policies
• Copies of acts of sale or deeds of real estate owned (if real estate is located out of state, consider transferring to a revocable trust or a family entity to avoid ancillary probate)
• List of bank and brokerage accounts
• List and location of other valuable assets
• Location of bank safe deposit box
• Copies of ownership agreements relating to closely-held businesses (shareholders’ agreements, operating agreements, partnership agreements, buy/sell agreements)

If you have any questions or you would like a tune up to your estate plan, please feel free to contact me.