How do you stay organised while dealing with a death?

DenOfFlowers

I'm curious how people keep track of bank accounts, assets, debts and so on if you're an executor / administrator dealing with someone's estate? Whether you've contacted a bank, what you need to do next, totting up values and so on.

Sea_Shell

Thankfully this is something I haven't had to do... yet, but I would use a combination of spreadsheets for financial info (assets/costs).   A notepad for to-do lists.  And labelled plastic wallets in boxfiles* for all paperwork.

So "all of the above" depending on the individual tasks at hand.


* Or lever arch with dividers.   I have plenty kicking around 

Pollycat

Spreadsheet

I used a spreadsheet for everything I needed to do, using red, amber and green for things I needed to do, for things I'd done and was awaiting response and completed tasks.

born_again

Depends on your style of dealing with things.
Some people like digital ways, other are more old school & prefer paper based.

Cairnpapple

I'm really interested in how people manage when working with an active co-executor, some sort of shared document?

Brie

Just starting this with the added complication of the death being overseas as are the 3 other executors/beneficiaries.  And know that I will be doing a lot of the leg work.  I don't mind in some ways as I wasn't there for the last few days of hand holding so got off quite lightly.

But anyhoo - I'm a notebook for calls person.  Note at the top of the page of what organisation is being called, phone number, date, time, person(s) talked to.  A list of questions can be there in advance and then I can fill in the answers as they come along.  

We (Bros & I) have a long list on a word doc of what needs to be done in a reasonably sensible order.  Not all of it relevant now as it assumed only 1 Bro would be nearby when our parent died which turned out not to be the case.  Sensible eldest Bro will put all the relevant numbers of ££ into a type of spreadsheet on the word document once we have them.  And then we can talk about who's talking to the solicitor, the IFAs, the accountant, estate agent.  

The vast majority of the house has already been decluttered due to parent having moved out of the family home a couple of years back and no longer concerned about things that could no longer be remembered. 

We use version control with dates to email docs to each other as appropriate when they are updated.

Sarahspangles

I voted spreadsheet - though you could equally use Word tables if you'd rather not learn new software. This was complemented by a plastic box file, the kind with hanging tabs.

The workbook had sheets/lists as follows:

Actions - a row for each topic and notes of progress, annotated to do - in progress - complete with the date of last update. This was used to track the overall process starting from informing the Registrar to completing on the house sale and sending out payment to beneficiaries. You can set this up initially by working through lists on gov.uk and MSE. Tax stuff also went on this list.

Household - a table with a row for each organisation that has a financial or service relationship, marked complete when each account was closed and final bills settled.

Summary of Estate - a table with the breakdown of the figures used to calculate if IHT was due. This eventually formed the basis of the Estate Accounts, so any changes need to be recorded e.g. savings interest during the period of administration.

Estate Expenses - a list of transactions through the Executor's account or reimbursed to an Executor.

'Whereabouts' is useful if there are several of you involved, so you can note where the spare keys are, who has certificates, where valuables taken into safekeeping are stored, and where the address book of the person who passed away has ended up.

Optionally you could have lists of things to do at a property, or items that need to be given/sold/donated.

FarmerHorse

Most of the admin was done by email for both parents' deaths so I kept all emails in a separate folder for future reference. Physical letters and forms were kept in a safe drawer. Most of it was sequential so once it was done it was done. All money went through a separate account that I offered anyone who wanted to see it could, within reason. 

DenOfFlowers

This is so interesting, thanks everyone.

JGB1955

Spreadsheet

I had 5 copies of the Grant of Probate.  Numbered them on the back and kept tabs of when I had sent out each one and when it was returned.  Kept a note of bereavement line phone numbers, dates of phoning, names of contacts, actions awaited, when to chase etc etc.  My brother lives abroad and (thankfully) opted to reserve his powers.  If he had wanted to be more involved it would have been a bit of a nightmare, dealing with signatures at a distance. 

Fortuitously my brother and all the beneficiaries (I made a deed of variation to 'shift' 2/3 of my inheritance to my children) all banked with Nationwide and I was able to transfer 6 figure sums, instantaneously,  by internet banking.

To be fair, I'm a born administrator, so relished the task. Something to keep me focussed during lockdown....

lincroft1710

This was 20 years ago and was sole executor/beneficiary. Having helped deal with another death 3 years previous I knew what to do, Register death, obtain  several death certs, arrange funeral, publish death notice in home town paper, obtain probate and several certs, deal with bank accounts, minimal share holdings, pensions, then house sale and utility companies. had no lists or "guides".