What do you recommend for keeping electronic info for estate planning

[txpitdog]

A friend of my wife’s is going through a really tough time after her father passed away unexpectedly. All of his passwords to accounts and everything, and even knowing what accounts he had, are all inaccessible. She has basically had to wait for the bills/accounts to go unpaid long enough that she receives a notice then has to individually battle her way through each one.

My wife and I have a basic will, but it needs work. We have more assets than we did when we did the will, and the world has transitioned to a lot of electronic access to accounts. How do we securely keep a list of accounts and passwords that then becomes accessible to our kids if we both die unexpectedly?

I was thinking of keeping a file in the gun safe and instructing the kids to have the manufacturer open the safe for them and reset the combination. Or maybe we need duplicates with one in a safety deposit box.

There’s way more stuff that we hadn’t considered originally. Instead of splitting assets equally amongst the kids we now have specific things to go to each kid, have vehicles that will need to be paid off, the house will need to addressed so they don’t lose the equity to the bank…and we gotta provide them with access to all that information. My head is spinning thinking through how to keep them from getting ripped off or torn apart in dealing with all our crap.

[BlessedVeteran0305]

If it were me I would have a list of the passwords and the combination to the safe in the will with and a printed copy of the will in the safe as well so there is a back up. Whatever company or person writes you will can give you a paper copy to put in the safe. I did this before both of my deployments for my wife and kids.

[STGS]

I did this the other day for my family. Spent about 2 hours writing down all the websites, account numbers, user names and passwords.

In all, it was only about 15 “accounts”. This information was provided in several physical and electronic formats. I have a plan to annually update it and record any changes.

It really wasn’t difficult and I also took the opportunity to consolidate and cancel several unnecessary accounts.

[huntandfishguy6]

Written down already in a tablet. It's stored in a secure location.

[ThisLadyHunts]

Seems to me, sir, that you may have moved beyond the need for a will and into the realm of needing a (revocable, perhaps) trust. Unlike a will, which only becomes active after your death, a trust is active the moment you sign it. A trust also requires that a trustee be designated by you, the trustor. The trustee ensures that assets are distributed according to mandates of the trust (he/she also ensures all finances are settled before dissemination of assets). By having specified the dissolution of your assets before your death, a trust cannot be contested (by, say, bickering heirs) and, more importantly, it can bypass the requirement for probate.

Trust are a little more complex than wills and, in my opinion, it would behoove you to seek the help of an estate planning attorney. They time to figure out you got it wrong is not AFTER your death when family bonds can be forever broken by disagreements over the dissolution of assets.

Now, to your original question regarding where to store password information for protected accounts, I suggest creating an addendum to the trust and keep this information with your attorney, only to be shared with your trustor upon event of your death.

[Drycreek3189]

Seems to me, sir, that you may have moved beyond the need for a will and into the realm of needing a (revocable, perhaps) trust. Unlike a will, which only becomes active after your death, a trust is active the moment you sign it. A trust also requires that a trustee be designated by you, the trustor. The trustee ensures that assets are distributed according to mandates of the trust (he/she also ensures all finances are settled before dissemination of assets). By having specified the dissolution of your assets before your death, a trust cannot be contested (by, say, bickering heirs) and, more importantly, it can bypass the requirement for probate.

Trust are a little more complex than wills and, in my opinion, it would behoove you to seek the help of an estate planning attorney. They time to figure out you got it wrong is not AFTER your death when family bonds can be forever broken by disagreements over the dissolution of assets.

Now, to your original question regarding where to store password information for protected accounts, I suggest creating an addendum to the trust and keep this information with your attorney, only to be shared with your trustor upon event of your death.

Good advice ! A living trust is a good thing…..

[txpitdog]

Seems to me, sir, that you may have moved beyond the need for a will and into the realm of needing a (revocable, perhaps) trust. Unlike a will, which only becomes active after your death, a trust is active the moment you sign it. A trust also requires that a trustee be designated by you, the trustor. The trustee ensures that assets are distributed according to mandates of the trust (he/she also ensures all finances are settled before dissemination of assets). By having specified the dissolution of your assets before your death, a trust cannot be contested (by, say, bickering heirs) and, more importantly, it can bypass the requirement for probate.

Trust are a little more complex than wills and, in my opinion, it would behoove you to seek the help of an estate planning attorney. They time to figure out you got it wrong is not AFTER your death when family bonds can be forever broken by disagreements over the dissolution of assets.

Now, to your original question regarding where to store password information for protected accounts, I suggest creating an addendum to the trust and keep this information with your attorney, only to be shared with your trustor upon event of your death.

Good idea thank you. We’ve got a living trust for the Class 3 toys but I think another one for the other assets sounds like a good idea. Definitely wouldn’t want there to be bickering due to confusion.

[Huntingfool]

Some suggestions.

A living trust is fine but in Texas probate is a very simple process so do not do a living trust if the only purpose is to avoid probate. Living trust do nothing to save on estate taxes (although most do not need to worry about estate taxes as the current exemption is huge)

Just as important as an updated will is a power of attorney. Odds of you and your wife both dying at the same time are slim. So when one of you dies the surviving spouse needs a POA and vice versa. If you are the surviving spouse then you need a POA for one of your kids so at your death the kids can access all accounts.

I have advised my clients over the years to keep a folder that shows where all of your assets are including retirement accounts, life insurance, etc. along with the account numbers, contact information for each company, etc. I personally update mine once a year and keep the folder in a safe place along with my passwords.

I have had people put all their paperwork into a safe deposit box. That can be a huge mistake unless both spouses have access or a POA is in place.

I commend you for planning - I have worked with too many surviving spouses who not only just lost their partner but have to go through hell to figure out everything financially. Good luck to you

[Throwin Darts]

[Grayson]

Seems to me, sir, that you may have moved beyond the need for a will and into the realm of needing a (revocable, perhaps) trust. Unlike a will, which only becomes active after your death, a trust is active the moment you sign it. A trust also requires that a trustee be designated by you, the trustor. The trustee ensures that assets are distributed according to mandates of the trust (he/she also ensures all finances are settled before dissemination of assets). By having specified the dissolution of your assets before your death, a trust cannot be contested (by, say, bickering heirs) and, more importantly, it can bypass the requirement for probate.

Trust are a little more complex than wills and, in my opinion, it would behoove you to seek the help of an estate planning attorney. They time to figure out you got it wrong is not AFTER your death when family bonds can be forever broken by disagreements over the dissolution of assets.

Now, to your original question regarding where to store password information for protected accounts, I suggest creating an addendum to the trust and keep this information with your attorney, only to be shared with your trustor upon event of your death.

Trusts can most certainly be contested via litigation after death.

[brokeno]

On Amazon. I'm dead now what. Just like the peace of mind planner book.

[ThisLadyHunts]

Trusts can most certainly be contested via litigation after death.

This has never been presented to me any other way, but you make a good point. Almost anything can be litigated these days. I’ll have to look into this a little more closely.