Organizing for Estate Planning

Estate planning has become a prevalent theme in my life lately. There are several reasons for this including the recent passing of my grandpa and of my best friend’s dad and the preparation of my own will. I’ve also had many conversations with my family, friends and clients about their own dealings with deaths in their families. Most are concerned with preserving family heirlooms that have already been handed down to them while still maintaining clutter-free, organized homes. They are also anxious about their own kids having to handle cleaning out their homes when they pass. None want to cause extra work or fighting amongst their children simply because they haven’t decided who will get which valuable items or because they have clutter in the home to get rid of.

There are many important professionals to speak with who will help minimize the work and frustration your family will have to endure when you pass including an estate planner or lawyer, life insurance agent, bank representative, funeral arranger, financial advisor, accountant, professional organizer, etc.

While you work with all of these great professionals, there are lots of physical steps you can take in your home! Decluttering is always the first priority. Follow my steps on purging and spring cleaning for tips on how to do this. It is usually more difficult to do this with family and friends that don’t live in the home and in turn, don’t always have the same goal as you. If you feel the need to have someone help you, hire a professional organizer who will hold you accountable for making decisions but will provide an unbiased, outside perspective on all of the decisions you’ll make.

If there are a few specific items you’d like to ask your family and friends about before getting rid of them, set them aside and only show them the items you think they’d like to have now. Most importantly, donate and discard anything that you no longer want to keep for yourself. You’ll be left with essentials and the important things that you want for yourself and eventually for your loved ones.

Next, it is important to have discussions with your kids or other beneficiaries about the items you’d like to give to them when you pass. This step can be a bit more difficult because you won’t want to pressure anyone into accepting something they don’t want. It is a must to tell your loved ones that their decisions will not offend you and that you simply want to be fair in divvying up valuables so that everyone feels they’ve been able to keep reminders of you that are specifically important to them.

Once these decisions have been made, it’s time to go back to your professionals to help make these decisions concrete by adding the information to wills and trusts, etc. All of these steps will provide so much peace of mind for you by allowing you and yours to make decisions before judgements and emotions are clouded by grief after your passing.

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