As you may have noticed, I went off-track a couple of years ago, and these weekly journal entries ceased. Well, I’m ready to start them up again. Why? Because something truly important has happened in my life.
I’m still doing the memoirs classes, and I’m still speaking to writing groups about a variety of subjects, but my main focus has shifted to letting people know about one of the most important books they’ll ever see.
Is it a book I wrote? Yes.
Is it the book I’m proudest of (of all the 28 I’ve written)? Yes.
Is it a book that could very well change your life for the better? Yes.
This all started when the spouse of a friend of mine died unexpectedly, and my friend was left with a mountain of missing information. Where were all the bank accounts? What about insurance? Was there a list of valuable assets (not just money, but collectibles and family heirlooms)?
When I mentioned all this to my daughter, who will be my executor, she said, “Mom, would you put together a list of the five most important things I’ll have to do right after you die? I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
The trouble was – I didn’t know where to start either, so I went onto DuckDuckGo and searched for important things to do after somebody dies. The most helpful list was at the AARP website. I’m grateful to the people who compiled it, and I incorporated many of their ideas into my list.
BUT it turns out there aren’t FIVE most important things to do. There are way more than that, so my five-item list turned into six pages. And then there was all the other stuff that will need to be handled—another eight or nine pages.
I did all this searching and sorting and asking so my daughter wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel. When I told my widowed friend about THE LIST, she asked me to make it into a book.
And that’s where After I Die: What My Executor Will Need to Know came in.
Here’s what it says on the back cover:
When you die, either expectedly or without warning:
o Will your executor know who to contact?
o Will they be lost in your house, trying to find financial records?
o Will they know about that burial policy you bought fifteen years ago?
o Will they know your social security number?
o Will they even know what questions they should have asked you while you were still alive?
This book gives you an easy way for you to be kind to your executor by answering all five of those questions (and dozens more). Answer them now, before you risk being unable to answer them.
Making a will or answering all these questions doesn’t mean you’re going to die soon. It means that whenever you do get around to dying, the people you leave behind won’t resent you for leaving them without the knowledge they need.
Over the next couple of months (each Friday), I’ll highlight a certain section from the book. That way you can get a start on pulling together what your executor will need to know—or, if you’re to be someone’s executor, this will give you an advance look at the sorts of questions you need to ask now.
Let’s take this journey together. Okay?