Dying tidy

PudseyDB

luxor4t wrote: »

Put names, dates, details onto family photos - MiL has a drawer full of pictures but nobody knows who the people are and she is too fuzzy to remember now.

Mum died recently and me and my sister have been looking through old photos she had. Sadly there's several people that we have no idea who they are!

c53204

I've been thinking about this lately - especially with all the online stuff that people have.

Be careful if putting all your passwords/logins in one envelope.... it might come into the wrong hands before you go! That is of course if they are non coded. Then you have to hide that code......

Most websites will auto close accounts after a period of inactivity. So it only really matters for active financial stuff and similar.

Some websites claim to store item and after a certain length of time of inactivity send the information to someone else - children ,etc?

The problem with all this online stuff is that we might assume the companies involved will be around long enough to store/pass on the data/information. Not sure I would trust any 'cloud' storage company to pass on all my stored photos - better to save on local storage in a format that anyone can access.

Savvy_Sue

Errata wrote: »

That's an excellent idea. I'm the only one left in the family who can name the greats and great greats in photos. I've spent hours doing my grans, mums and my collection.
Not sure what will happen when everything's digital electronic and people have take thousands during their lifetimes :eek::eek:

Won't all our photos be automatically tagged on Facebook or google by then? :mad:

Sorry, drives me nuts as I'm quite a private person who does NOT plaster her photo all over the internet, several of DH's friends from Uni are clearly digitising their old photos and tagging me, which I would really prefer them NOT to do!!!

monkeyspanner

kittie wrote: »

ok I am being very objective on this, no emotions just practicalities so that the people left behind know exactly what to do and where things are

We made our wills today and dh kept mithering me in the car: what sort of funeral would you want, what hymns, where are the bank accounts etc etc. I have told him over and over in the past about the accounts but I am going to write notes and keep them with the wills and so is he. Like he said, grief is hard enough to deal with never mind having to find money to pay for funerals and bills

Help me to make a to do list please, I will be getting a `dying tidy` pack together

wills
bank account details
savings accounts details
buy funeral plans x 2
burial/cremation/scattering wishes
who is going to have various items

plus a short step by step account of what needs to be done re probate

will that do or I have missed something major?

Having done several probates the following list might help. Not in any particular order.
-Close any unused/dormant accounts so there is less to sort out.
-Details of any outstanding loans/mortgages and a list of people you might owe money to.
-Insurance policies
-Contact details for any financial advisors
-Contact numbers for all banks/investments etc.
-Birth and marriage certs
-NI number and state and personal pension
-Income tax records and a summary of which years details have been dealt with and any outstanding matters.
-Credit card details. It may be worth checking if your cards have any insurance benefits and make a note if they do.
-Details of any financial gifts in the last 7 years if your estate plus gifts is over the IHT nil rate band.
-Don't forget if you are the surviving partner the unused balance of their IHT nil rate band can reduce your beneficiaries IHT bill. So include any relevant previous probate details and any subsequent deeds of variation.
-If you intend to leave any paperwork relating to old closed accounts make sure you mark them clearly that the account is closed or investment matured and if possible where the proceeds were paid to, so any large transactions moving across your accounts can be reconciled.
-Some certified copies of the wills might help the executor speed up the process of collecting funds.
-If you have multiple investments/accounts recommended that the person registering the death obtains several copies of the death cert. as this will help notifying the various investment companies.

Hope this helps

zygurat789

But I want people to be unhappy when I die and to realise how indispensible I was.

Valli

zygurat789 wrote: »

But I want people to be unhappy when I die and to realise how indispensible I was.

Don't worry - when you go the forum will go into official mourning mode; all the banners/borders will be monochrome; we'll have a thread lamenting your passing in the arms and we will all be quoting from your most erudite and amusing posts.

:cool:

*pats zygurat's arm in a consoling manner*

feel better?

[Deleted User]

Sorry to bump an old post.

But can I add, make sure all the paperwork you do have relating to bills etc is filed neatly (as per being tidy) and anything you dont need is shredded.

When my late Dad passed last year, Mum was a wreck and so it was me that had to go through everything. His paperwork/filing mode was a wreck and spent many hours trying to get it into some kind of logical order.

Back then I made a list of companies we are registered with, and wrote out pages with addresses, phone numbers, emails addresses, etc. The password list is a very good idea I think as so much is done online these days.

Even to this day, although we took out home insurance after he died, we are certain he was with another company for home insurance but we cant figure out who!

mumps

I seem to have spent all my life trying to make things easy and sort stuff out. I feel like I should be able to be irresponsible about dying. Don't care if the dishes are all done, the washing is up to date and the bills paid. After all what are they going to do, cut me off?

jackieblack

kittie wrote: »

wills
bank account details
savings accounts details
buy funeral plans x 2
burial/cremation/scattering wishes
who is going to have various items

Shouldn't 'who is going to have various items' be included in your wills?

chesky

jackieblack wrote: »

Shouldn't 'who is going to have various items' be included in your wills?

No, not necessarily. My solicitor advised me to make a list of little things and attach it to the will. You know, things like the Clariss Cliffe vase for Francesca and the picture in the bedroom for Henry. Things that are too small for the will but they're always the things that people get upset about. You know 'she always said I could have the ruby ring'.