Would Your Family Know Where to Find Your Finances?
‘Would your family know where to find your finances after you’re gone?’ In the midst of daily life, it’s easy to let paperwork pile up and to lose online passwords. But the reality is, when someone we love passes away, the burden of settling their affairs falls on those left behind.
A lot of clients share details of their lives online through social media, sometimes with complete strangers, but they don’t share details of where to find their finances or other sensitive information with those closest to them.
This can cause problems for families following the death of a loved one if information relating to their assets is unknown.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Would your family know where you bank?
- Would they know where to find information about your pension(s)?
- Do they know who your employer is?
- Would they know where your Will is kept?
With many of us now using technology and having an online presence, most of us will also have digitals assets that need to be dealt with. Would your loved ones know how to access your phone or laptop? And, would they know the login details for your social media accounts where precious photos might be kept?
Often, the answer to these questions is no.
To make your family’s life easier following your death, you might want to think about preparing an ‘Asset Log’ and a ‘Digital Asset Log’ during your lifetime.
The information stored in these logs needs to be kept safe and up to date, but it can be invaluable to families after a death as it removes a lot of the guess work and provides reassurance that they have dealt with everything they need to.
Of course, ensuring that you have an up to date and valid Will which appoints specific people to deal with these matters also makes the process easier.
Whilst it is possible to carry out Missing Will and Missing Asset searches following a loved one’s death, having your own record which can be found easily after death would be preferable as these searches can be costly and the results are not always guaranteed.
How Can Timms Help?
If you would like some information regarding the preparation of your Will and asset logs, please do not hesitate to contact Charlotte Day on 01283 214 231 or c.day@timms-law.com
February 2024