Sorting Out Your Important Paperwork Before You Die

Besides preparing a detailed Will, it is important to arrange your financial paperwork before you die. By doing this, you ease the process of distributing your estate. Having clear documentation of where your money or the assets you own are is important to avoid a drawn out finalisation process. Leaving comprehensive documentation also helps in avoiding potential conflicts between various interested parties.

Salary or pension  paperwork

You need to state all the deductions from your pay if you are formally employed or retired. Open a file for your pay slips if you have not done so already. These will be a convenient source of the above information when the Executor needs it. Have a file containing your payment statements for at least the past two years.

This simple activity will put the Executor in an ideal position to pay off creditors and distribute your funds among beneficiaries.  Your tax status must also be clear.

Bank accounts and investments

For a start, you can list some items in a book or any other place that for easy access. These include all the bank accounts you have, specifying the name of the bank and the branch as well as the account numbers.

It should also be clear which type of account it is (fixed deposit, savings or current). In a similar way, you should keep a file of all your investments, each of them kept in a portfolio.

Clearly indicate the investment product, the company supplying it and the name of your broker together with their contact details. If you have bought an investment product online, then give the name of the website you went through and your account number.

Insurance and other accounts

Provide the paperwork if you are a member of a medical insurance scheme or had any other kind of policy. Please note, however, that the life insurance policy of a person is not a part of the distributable estate. The individual(s) named as a beneficiary of the policy is the only one who will get the payout. To this end, you should be careful to keep the terms of your policy up to date.

It would complicate matters if you named a spouse as the sole beneficiary of your policy and never changed this if they died before you. It is advisable to keep a list of recipients of your policy within easy reach. Stoe funeral policies, in particular, in a prominent place.

You should check the value of your policy regularly as well as this could change with time. The instruments in which insurance firms invest subscriptions fluctuate in value, hence affecting the value of the final payout.

You have bills for utility payments such as your water, electricity and phone. Keep documents that relate to these accounts such as the monthly bills should the Executor can access them quickly.

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All info was correct at time of publishing