Wills: Where is everything?

by laura
(Vermont)

When my mother-in-law died, she left a houseful of papers distributed around the place, a strongbox with outdated papers, a bunch of odd lot stocks, and some instructions to her son (my husband).

He spent weeks trying to find everything so he could follow her instructions as executor. Fortunately she put him on her accounts at the bank so he has operating funds while trying to settle her estate, but the chaos was terrible for a while.

We are going to organize our papers and wishes in one place and each of us will tell a close relative where this treasure trove is in case they need to settle our affairs. We also will find this helpful.

If my husband dies I won't be in shape to upend the house looking for his business. It's much nicer if we upend it together while we're still in shape.

There are books that help you structure this so we'll get one of those and fill it in.

Hope this helps someone!

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