The Start of the Conversation

William Harrison, an executive in international sales, died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 56.   His wife wants to notify his customers but does not know his password for his email account.  Susan Marley, 92, dies and leaves the family a safe but no one knows the combination.  Mildred and John Sawyer, both in their 40's, die in a car crash and no one knows if they had any prearrangements with a funeral home or cemetery.   These are all terrible situations that are compounded by a serious lack of information during an already traumatic time.

To lessen the turmoil that accompanies a death whether it is expected or not is to prepare the information and tell someone where the information is kept, not necessarily the specifics- just where the document(s) can be found in the event of an emergency.  The trusted person can be an adult child, a lawyer, a close friend or relative.  Perhaps the documents are with an attorney.  Someone in the family, along with the spouse, needs to know that name and phone number. 

My mission is to help people talk about getting their information on paper- or on the computer as long as someone else knows the password.  I see one of my responsibilities as a member of society is to lessen the burden when I leave this earth.  I have written instructions in my fireproof box and my husband and children know where the box is located. 

Think about it, what is stopping you from putting pen to paper.  Superstition?  Not having a trusted person in your life?  Do you think you don’t have enough assets to warrant a will and therefore don’t need a list of instructions?  If you have a bank account, a Facebook page, an email address, automatic bill paying, a will, specific burial instructions or other unique information about your life, then you need a piece of paper with the information so that others know what to do with when you die. 

In the coming weeks, I will be sharing a document that I developed to help you organize your information.  As a will is fluid, this document has to be fluid, too.  How many times do you change your passwords?  This is not the “be all, the end all” of information gathering; it IS a start.  

Image credit:  Lassarone Motumboe