To everyone who reads this--think about your life insurance policy. Not the easy one like the one from work but the one your parents took out for you as a child, the one when you had your first child, etc and look at the beneficiary. If it is not who you want to get the money, UPDATE IT. My sister past away a few months ago. I will not inherit anything but have the hassle of trying to figure out all her stuff. One of her policies goes to our parents who have been gone many years and the other is directed to her first husband. If one policy is ever going to be cashed in, I have to give the people who will get the money all the certified death certificates of my parents and my sister and all the paperwork. For the policy that goes to her first husband, her son will have to find a copy of their divorce decree which was over 30 years ago. I would not bother except I would like my nephews to get the money. Do your family a favor and update these important documents. OK-my rant is over (for today).

While it's not a happy, fun topic, it is a needed one.
I agree wholeheartedly. Without a will, I have seen family get into arguments that never heal. As a medical tech I saw the worst of people at a trying time. Three sisters having the cops called over a set of dishes, the lawyer having to be present when an estate sale was going on, having to go from one to another of the family in separate rooms with an offer for an item. I was in there trying to retrieve the medical equipment that some people thought they owned and were trying to sell. The emotion and drama, and sometimes greed was stunning. You never can tell who is going to be a lunatic about money or possessions.

I am glad you started this posting. People also need to have a Power of Attorney and a Medical Power of Attorney. A living will works too. Most Dr.'s offices can do the medical there. I have been involved in 3 family situations where one part of the family wanted to pull the plug, and the other part wanted everything on earth done to prolong the mechanically beating heart. Make your choice while you are still able to make it. My parents were very forthright about their wishes to me. No heroic measures. If they would not be totally independent of machines, or would have to live in a nursing home, pull the plug. I was POA and Medical POA, thank God. Both had emergency situations with no hope of recovery. I followed their wishes and was able to tell off the relatives with a clear conscious when they started their crap.
Do your family this huge favor, so they won't feel guilty for the rest of their lives, or have to visit you in a coma for years in a nursing home.

here's the link for a living will, click on your state.

[www.doyourownwill.com]

None of us is thrilled with the notion that we are not immortal and writing wills or doing estate planning seems to be conveniently perceived as something needed only when we are old and a natural life span is about over.

Wills and insurance should be a normal part of growing up. As soon as you have anyone who depends on you financially you need a will and likely need insurance as well. And these things are not 'once and done' but need to be reviewed when changes to your situation happen.

As a single mom I carried a $450k declining term life insurance because at the time of its purchase, that was roughly what it would have cost to raise and educate the kids to adulthood. Once they were on their own, there was no need to keep the policy, though if I had needed to care for my parents, I could have switched it over to have them be the beneficiaries.

I chose to go the Living Trust route, wherein the documentation establishes the Trustee as me during my lifetime and a Successor Trustee to handle my Estate when I am no longer able to make decisions myself and when I am gone. The requirements for it and the benefits of it vary from state to state, but handled correctly it avoids Probate and the opportunity for the Judge to determine who gets what of my assets and lawyers getting the lion's share.

As part of the whole Estate process, I have a comprehensive listing of assets and liabilities that gets updated every time I open or close an account. If there is a stated beneficiary to an account, that is listed. I don't expect my heirs to fight over what I leave behind so I will do what I can during my lifetime to make sure that doesn't happen. Plenty of space to add new accounts and a line through a closed account with the closing date assures that nobody gets frustrated because they KNOW I had a BOA account and can't find anything in my papers and BOA is telling them nothing.

A minimal package of documents everybody should have is:
Living Will - as mentioned above. Do you want 'heroic' measures to keep your heart beating if there is no 'quality of life' left or option to recover?
Power of Attorney - this names a person who can handle your financial affairs during your life if you are incapable of doing so yourself.
Healthcare Surrogate - this names a person to make medical decisions for you in case you are unable to do so. Sometimes this is combined into a Living Will.
Will or Living Trust - this names your Executor or Successor Trustee who is to distribute your assets after your death and may or may not specifically identify the assets in the document or by an additional listing referred to as a codicil.

Other documents it is good to have as part of the package are:
Organ donation information
Disposition of your body - do you want a funeral? a memorial service? a casket and burial? cremation and ashes scattered? donation of the body to medicine?

OP, I am very sorry about your sister. You have my deepest condolences.

From another perspective, I switched banks a few months ago and consolidated everything with them, including my brokerage accounts. I had to update everything because everything was in my maiden name, and my husband was not a beneficiary.

I am blessed to still have my parents. They are in their 70s, active, and in excellent health. They have been hinting around at having that talk with my brother and I: their living will, the distribution of their assets upon death, etc.

No one wants to hear that.

It was on a Sunday morning that my mom said on Monday we were seeing an atty about a will. She had been dx with breast cancer that had metastasized in only 2 yrs. Anyway, long story short, she died that evening. DO IT. It's not fun. It's very, very uncomfortable to discuss.. esp if you've got kids.. but DO IT. I have already planned a meet w/a local company to discuss all of this. I remember 32 yrs ago when I had to do this for my mom, it was a nightmare, my sister did not speak to me for 20 YRS. . It's always going to be hard, but pre planning is one HUGE thing to overcome in advance... godspeed......... My mom was only 49, I was 23. My sister is now 60, and I just turned 55. I also have a 17 y/o son.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2016 04:23AM by amberngriffinco.

As an insurance agent for more than 24 years, I am pleased to see that you took the time to take care of your insurance needs. I am not a fond lover of declining term; however at least you did the right thing for your family. I have talked to so many would be prospects to attempt to teach them that life insurance is truly needed if one has a family, owns a home, is married or single and if you have children. Sometimes, I just walk away shaking my head because people think they know better not to do any planning or write a will. I commend you for doing the best thing possible for your family. Let every mystery shopper know that life insurance is an important necessity just like auto insurance. So is disability or accident insurance so your paycheck is protected. You can always write me on the forum if you need help understanding what to do before your family is left crying because nothing was done to realize that at the time of death of a loved one, that it is too late to do anything.
Best, G. Barnes

I find it interesting you are not a fan of declining term. When purchased through a mutual as opposed to commercial company, it can be very inexpensive for truly adequate coverage of needs. Plus as a mutual there was usually a hefty check back each year of excess 'profits' from the company that made it even more affordable. I ran the numbers and while I could not, of course, count on the money back from the mutual's profits each year, declining life was a very economical way to adequately covered what my remaining costs would be raising my kids while allowing me to continue growing assets that were not insurance based.

Having been in the insurance industry for over 24 years, I still do not favor declining term because generally, the insured outlives the term policy. If a cash value policy is purchased early in one's 20's or 30's it does not cost that much to pay a premium. A cash value policy pays both the death benefit and the cash value to a beneficiary as a living benefit to borrow some or all of the cash value as a loan (ALWAYS), to never surrender as then the policy will lapse. It depends if an insured wants term as a short term situation or if the need is there for cash value only; not the death benefits. It is a dual product and works for those that understand its value. Thanks for writing. You can write back to ask more questions; however the forum is just for mystery shopping needs.

"however the forum is just for mystery shopping needs."

Most sections of the forum are designed for mystery shopping or merchandising. However, this thread is in General Chat which is specifically designated for conversations about things unrelated to mystery shopping.

Even though you can do wills on the Internet, after you do your will, spend some extra money and have a competent attorney review it. My SIL passed away at age 59, the youngest of 4 children. Her parents were gone and she never married. The siblings were her full brother (my husband and executor), a living half-brother and a deceased half-brother. She left everything to her full brother. She also specified that the living half-brother was to get nothing (she hated him). She did not mention the deceased half-brother.
Her will was written by her paralegal friend, and signed by a lawyer in her firm. My husband hired a different attorney for the probate. He told my husband that there was a big problem with the will because the deceased half-brother was not mentioned.
The lawyer said that the other lawyer must have just signed off on his paralegal's work without reading what she wrote. (That's why I say to make sure you get a competent attorney). Anyway, the judge declared that the deceased half-brother's children would share one-half of the estate, which was not what my SIL wanted.