Key Post Preparing financially and otherwise for the end of somebody's life

Had this discussion with my parents and it seems they have a more complicated situation than I thought. If they had both died, there would be a chance that I would not be aware of some of their assets.

Have gone through things with them in more detail now but am thinking the same for myself when my day comes, I should list out my assets and accounts.
This is what I listed out and I would like to get input from others:

Details of Credit Union accounts
Details of current accounts in both the UK and Ireland
Details of deposit accounts in UK and Ireland
Details of pensions from UK and Ireland
Details of regular income from insurance payouts
Savings bond / prize bond details
Location of passports, birth certs etc
Location of wills
Burial wishes
Location of house deeds
Details of any debts that are paid out on a regular basis
I will get my name put on all of their bills so that the utility company will discuss account details with me
Same with insurances
There is cash and jewellery in the house so I know where that is now hidden
Also dad as an ex carpenter had a fake floor on the shed where he stores his expensive tools - never knew this!

Not a nice discussion to have but pretty important.

Now we all know about the fake floor!

I think you have covered most of it.
The Law Society has a template

What about an update for the internet age?

Email password.
Online banking details.
Passwords for Facebook etc.

What about important medical decisions?

For me, I would need some way to pass on passwords for email accounts, computers, etc, I think that writing down the passwords and storing them somewhere safe, but accessable to a trusted person would be necessary.

This may not be an issue if your parents are less techy.

Edit: took me 15 minutes to post that as I was sidetracked! Crossed with BB

Write the passwords on a bit of paper and hid it in the fake floor

Very useful thread. I have been procrastinating on this for some time as my wife is clueless as to our online banking etc. Also, some accounts are in my sole name due to laziness when setting them up. Will now get to this. Thanks all.

Brilliant discussion here. I got a "Think Ahead" form from the Irish Hospice Foundation. Main headers covered:

Key Info( in case of emergency). Meds, Dr(s) drugs etc.
Health insurance
Care Preferences'
Advanced Healthcare directive.
Emergency Summary form
Legal
Financial
When I die (body donation, funeral etc)

You can order the forms online for 4 Euro..

More info:


.

The order you do stuff is important. The banks and other institutions will cut you off from access once they hear someone has passed.

Worth while having an emergency fund in an account thats shared with one of the children.

Also its worth getting peoples paperwork in order while they are still around. Trying to get accounts, and historical records, to do the accounts for the estate, is very difficult afterwards. If they aren't in order before hand. having accounts in Joint names is very useful as is household services as they won't won't talk to someone who isn't on the account.

I think that there’s huge merit in simplicity.

One current account, one savings account, one investment account. All details written down on a ‘one pager’, the location of which key people know.

Some people keep a "stash of cash" somewhere in the house, shed, or wherever. Important to know where it may be hidden, and i'd imagine it would be one of the last things someone would want to reveal. Each to their own, but how someone goes about this is important. From experience, TRUST is No 1.

Brendan Burgess said:

What about an update for the internet age?

Email password.
Online banking details.
Passwords for Facebook etc.

Click to expand...

Google and Facebook let you nominate a designated person to gain access to your accounts if there is no activity on them for a period of time.

Consider setting up a mutual Enduring power of attorney between your parents, or between you and each of your parents. This can be helpful for a variety of reasons and is only effective when registered which requires communication to relevant parties to prevent abuse. For example if one parent was incapacitated and the other parent needed to sell the family home.

noproblem said:

Some people keep a "stash of cash" somewhere in the house, shed, or wherever. Important to know where it may be hidden, and i'd imagine it would be one of the last things someone would want to reveal. Each to their own, but how someone goes about this is important. From experience, TRUST is No 1.

Click to expand...

The trust thing can become a mine field if there is any memory issues.

There were some good suggestions in this thread: https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/prep-as-executor-before-death.220916/

It would appear that buying a burial plot in advance is not such a good idea these days.

There is an old key post here with advice to help with organising a funeral/saving on associated costs but most people appear to be going for cremations because graves and headstones are far too expensive.

Knowing his illness was terminal, my partner opened a joint account and transferred all his incoming and outgoing transactions from his personal account to that account. We just considered it to be 'his' account until he passed. It made life so much easier for me afterwards until I was ready to close the account. Although I understand that not everyone would be comfortable with that.

Prepping my info today.. Adding in Paypal and Revolut accounts as they may get missed and nobody would ever know!

Think about a 'letter of wishes' which is not legally binding but very useful to guide your executor as to how to dispose of personal effects and preferences for funeral/send off.