Dealing with a death in the family can be a hard time for many. One way to make things easier on your loved ones is to have funeral plans and other financial issues already taken care of.
What you can do:
- Choose a funeral home that you would like to
use.
- Go to them and make the final arrangements that
will be necessary.
- Be sure to list out things like who you might
want for pallbearers, singers, pastors, instrumentalists, preferred songs,
pictures, etc.
- Have a burial site selected and purchased.
- If you can or if you choose to, you might go ahead and choose a monument. Doing it together while both are
living might make it easier for the survivor. Then, the only thing left to do is to have
them come out and engrave the final dates.
- Check the beneficiaries on your financial
accounts to be sure that they are done to your satisfaction.
- Think about having both spouses listed as owners
on credit cards and bank accounts. If
only one spouse is listed as an owner and the other spouse wants to use a card
after the death, sometimes they actually freeze the card until the surviving
spouse is added, and that can take up to two weeks to accomplish.
- Have a list of your assets readily available,
whether that is in a file in your office or even in your safe deposit box. Name the asset, the phone number or address
of any companies that you do business with on a regular basis, and a list of
any insurance policies and any agents that you work with.
- Leave a list of not only insurance agents, but
your attorney, your accountant, your financial advisor, your bank account
numbers, investments, addresses and phone numbers of anyone that you work with
on financial matters.
There are brochures and pamphlets available with a lot of
this information in them that you can get online, or from your funeral home, or
possibly even from your financial advisor. Fill it out and leave it where it will be found.
