Documents You Need Before You Die

  

     This is a very useful graphic that shows the documents you should have collected in one place or immediate access to if you want to insure your family does not struggle looking for information when you die.

     In a recent estate we handled it took more than four months and numerous hours by staff to identify all of the information required to process the estate through probate.  Five separate investment accounts, original stock certificates, passbook savings accounts, four checking accounts, several savings accounts with different people named as owners of the accounts, original deeds and the list goes on.  The delay and the expense all could have been avoided if the parties involved had collected and organized this information for the inevitable. 

     The financial consequences of not having this information organized could be very costly.  According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, state treasurers currently hold $32.9 billion in unclaimed bank accounts and other assets.  Here in New York you can search for unclaimed funds at Office of the New York State Comptroller’s Unclaimed Funds website.

     Some of these documents such as your “original will” should never be left at home or in a safety deposit box.  When you are preparing your will, speak with your attorney about where to keep these documents.  Your attorney can provide you with copies of the important documents to keep in your file at home while safely storing originals.   

     Here at Ciminelli and Ciminelli we can digitally store all of these documents and give you direct access to the digital file if you need to recover any of the information.  Additionally, we will store your original will in our fireproof safe to insure the original is available to the Surrogate Court for probate proceedings.