Organizing the Estate
Walking into an estate situation can be tricky. It can range from a somewhat simple switch of ownership to a surviving spouse to a complete undocumented mess with rival beneficiaries, creditors and no locks on the doors.
Any advance planning and organizing will only make everyone’s life easier. As people age some aspects of personal hygiene along with the living conditions tend to slip. Some of these issues were brought up in Aging is a fact of life. Other topics to review include the current living situation.
Items and Topics to Look For:
Income Streams
- Rent on income properties
- Stock dividend and bond coupon payments
- Payments on mortgages, land contracts, and promissory notes held
- Royalties on patents, mineral rights, books
- Insurance dividends
- Tax refunds
- Social security, VA, pension benefits
- Consultation fees and other
- Deposits for electrical, phone, internet service
Expenses
- Mortgages
- Utilities
- Phone/TV/Internet
- Home maintenance
- Auto bills: registration, insurance
- Memberships/subscriptions
- Taxes
- Credit card bills
- Medical
- Personal debts
- Hobbies
Where to find information:
Information regarding income and expenses can be found on the desk at home, on top and in the drawers, file cabinets, closets, computers (all of them), and mobile phone(s). If the person was still employed or in a partnership or owner, gain access to their work space to look for personal items only.