Final Wishes
Together with a living will and a last will and testament, you might want to devise one other document that informs your family of particular things that you wish to have done. This can be done using a Statement of Desires and Location of Property & Document. It might not be a legally bound document, but at the very least, it is a declaration of your wishes and other information that you wish your family is going to adhere to.
In case of demise, a lot of people have certain desires concerning the kind of funeral, final burial, and other issues that can’t be taken care of through a will. A will might not be found until following a burial, so it wouldn’t do any good to include funeral and final burial instructions in the will.
One other thing that can be done with such documentation is to provide your family members with important information that is going to assist them in taking care of your estate. The below matters might be included:
- your will’s location;
- an inventory of your assets
Be mindful; It is not always easy for the person overseeing your estate to locate everything that you own, particularly things like stocks & bonds and likewise futures. Things kept somewhere other than your home, like a stamp collection in a safety-deposit box, a hotrod at an automobile facility, a RV in a storage lot, music equipment in a self-storage company, etc., are typically challenging to locate. Your inventory should include a comprehensive description of the item and where your family members or friends can find them.
What You Should Keep
- a record of your life insurance policies, comprising of the name, address and phone number of the insurance company (and of your agent), and the insurance policy number;
- a list of family members, friends and any other individuals you want to be notified of your passing (comprising of their names, addresses and phone numbers)
- any wishes you may have concerning the education and raising of your minor child(ren);
- conditions for the care and custody of pets. You don’t want your pets to go unfed should you be in the hospital, so make sure you discuss care of your pet with the family member or friend that is going to be notified should there be an emergency. If you would like to make sure your pet is going to be cared for following your passing, you can do so through your will by leaving a specific amount of funds to a trust that is going to be created for your pet following your passing. Through your last will, you can designate someone to represent as the trustee of the “pet trust” and that individual is going to be accountable for utilizing the money for your pet’s benefit for the rest of the pet’s life.
- instructions concerning your funeral (this should include information concerning any burial site you may own; any pre-paid funeral plan; should you want a conventional burial, natural burial, cremation, and so forth.; and, any personal want, like the kind of music you want played. You may want a grand funeral or declare that you wish the least costly burial with the aim of saving assets for your heirs.).
For such a document to be of any use, it needs to be in a place where it can easily be located by a relative. As a result, it is not wise to put it in your safety-deposit box. Once the bank discovers your passing, it might seal your safety-deposit box and only allow it to be opened through a court order. Since it takes time to acquire a court order, it might be
Source:
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Staff, L. Z. (2023, April 10). Final wishes. LegalZoom. Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/final-wishes
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