When someone passes away, it’s not uncommon for family members to have a lot of difficulty figuring out exactly what their family member owned when they died. Often, this process turns in to a scavenger hunt. Sure, you know about Grandpa’s wooden golf club set and Uncle Jim’s baseball cards, but where did they bank? Did they have life insurance? What was the policy number?
After many months and after leafing through a ton of paperwork, the family can often get an often figure out what the person who died actually owned. But there are two issues…it not only takes too long…you can never be sure that something isn’t being missed. What if Uncle Jim not only had 100,000 junk baseball cards, but a bunch of valuable ones that were hidden away somewhere? What if Grandpa not only had vintage golf clubs but a long forgotten life insurance policy?
To solve this problem in advance, I counsel all of my estate planning clients to take the time to inventory all of their accounts, investments, vehicles and personal property. Check out this form: Asset Inventory
