A Seattle mother of two has set out to make estate planning less daunting for ordinary people. Her web site, “get your stuff together,” encourages people to manage their affairs while they still can.
According to “get your stuff together” creator, Chanel Reynolds, “It takes really just a few hours now, rather than a pile of hours and thousands of dollars to do it later when you really need it done.” Reynolds launched her web site after her husband and the father of her two children was unexpectedly killed while riding his bike. Reynolds experienced stress and high costs because she and her husband had not prepared any estate planning documents.
One checklist on her Web site lists documents that should be kept together and accessible to whomever is handling a person’s affairs. These documents include:
- Birth certificates
- Bank names
- Information for checking, savings, and other bank accounts
- Credit card numbers
- Mortgage and loan documents
- Passwords for computers, cell phones, email accounts, social networking sites, and online accounts.
For assistance in preparing an estate plan and otherwise preparing your family for the future, contact an estate planning attorney.
