Even for those who have a valid estate plan in place, certain crisis situations may render the estate plan impractical when family members or loved ones are forced to quickly step in and take the reins of your life. A recent article suggests taking a personal inventory in order to address this issue.
A good personal inventory will describe, in detail, the location of all important documents. Listed documents should include your power of attorney documents, insurance papers, and any other documents that contain financial or sensitive information. Your personal inventory should also include information for you online accounts, bank accounts and safe deposit boxes, the combination to any safes, and the location of your tax and financial records.
If you own a business, you should also include any information necessary to ensure that the business can continue on without you. Include any information necessary to ensure that a competent member of the business can quickly pick up where you left off to handle the business affairs.
A personal inventory will necessarily contain sensitive information. Therefore, if you choose to make one, be sure to store it in a safe place. Only disclose its location to the few people that you trust and would need to be aware of its existence.
