Preparing 'THE' folder

Living in a foreign country is never easy, but have you thought how complicated it would be for your family if you die suddenly? 

I am writing this blog after my weekly food trip to the Mercato Trionfale in Rome. I believe it to be the largest indoor market in Rome. It certainly has a massive choice of fruit, veg, meats, fish and much more. For any foodies out there, it is well worth a visit.  However, my motivations for going this particular morning were not necessarily the food, but to go and have a natter with the people on the 'bancarelle'. As is the norm at markets you tend to have your favourite stalls and you get to know the people and whilst buying the groceries you can stop and put the world to rights, talk about the weather etc. I love it because it is a break from the everyday routine and it provides me with that connection with people outside work. So, when I got a call from a lawyer recently to tell me that one of my clients had died, (after a tragic and prolonged illness) I felt I had to go and have a dose of that life infusion once again. This blog is never an easy one to write but I like to throw it out there once a year because I think it’s important. Ensuring that your papers are in order in the event of your sudden death is incredibly important when living in another country. It will provide you with peace of mind that your loved ones will not have too much difficulty in administering your estate, and your family will be thankful that you did it for them. The big problem is that as 'stranieri' we often have documents spread across multiple locations. The office, a house in another country, with family members and in that old box that no-one dares look in. The purpose of this blog is to outline a proven way of organizing your affairs to reduce stress in the event of your death.  So, what is THE folder?  It is a single file (digital or physical) where you keep all your important personal and financial information together. It allows easy access to these documents in the event that you’re no longer around to help. It is really important to have it in place where one family member takes the lead on the family finances (as I do in our household). That includes paying bills, managing accounts and storing documents. Is it worth the effort? Well, I think it is worth the effort. A time of loss can be stressful enough without having to try and piece together the deceased’s financial affairs. This can be a really difficult time for family members. However, preparing THE folder is much more than avoiding stress; if you leave behind an administrative nightmare you could delay access to inheritors' access to funds and potentially cost a small fortune in legal fees. To give you an example of this, the UK Department of Work and Pensions estimate that there is currently more than £400 million sitting in unclaimed pensions pots in the UK. Which is best...physical or digital?  This comes down to personal preference.It can be done by either creating an electronic file that survivors can access in the event of death. This file can then be stored on your main computer, in the cloud or on an external hard drive. Alternatively, you can use a physical folder to keep all of the important information together. For what it’s worth, I decided to do both when building mine because my wife prefers paper and so is happier with hard copies of everything. I prefer digital. I have also shared the digital folder with some trusted family members.  So what should go in 'THE' folder? Birth, marriage and divorce Personal birth certificate Marriage licence Divorce papers Birth certificate/adoption papers for minor children Life insurance and retirement Life insurance policy documents (including beneficiary nomination forms) Details of any employer death in service benefits Personal pension documents Employer pension details Annuity documents Details of any entitlement to state pensions Bank accounts List of bank accounts with account numbers, login details, passwords etc Details of any credit cards Details of safe deposit boxes Assets Property, land and cemetery deeds Timeshare ownership Proof of loans made Vehicle ownership documents Stock certificates, brokerage accounts, investment platform details, online investment account details Details of holdings of premium bonds, government bonds, investment bonds Partnership and corporate operating/ownership agreements (including offshore companies) Liabilities Mortgage details Proof of debts owed Details of gifts Dates and amounts/values (potentially helpful when calculating any inheritance tax liability) Income sources Make a listing of all your sources of income, especially ones that your family might not know too much about Employer details A copy of your most recent tax return or accounts Monthly expenses (so they can be maintained if necessary or cancelled if not.  Essentially list the fixed costs which would need to continue after death) Utilities Insurance Rent/mortgage Loans Subscriptions/memberships  Email and social media account details Essentials Will/testament + details of the legal firm that helped create it, if applicable Instruction letter Trust documents Burial/cremation wishes Contact details List of names and contact numbers for: Financial adviser, doctor, lawyer/solicitor, accountant, insurance broker,  How often should 'THE' folder be reviewed? Firstly, it is sensible to note the date that it was last reviewed so that anyone using it has an idea of how up-to-date the details are. Going forward, reviewing the file on an annual basis should be sufficient. Online passwords If you are not comfortable keeping these in your folder, consider using a password management program. A password manager allows you to save all account usernames and passwords in one place. They are then protected using one master key. There a number of them available. I personally use LastPass – www.lastpass.com This might be a step too far for you given the data breaches that seem to be happening almost daily, notably Facebook. I appreciate that and if you are not comfortable in using such an app then it’s important to have a physical record somewhere that can be accessed in the event of your death.  And finally… Be sure to tell someone about it. There is little point going to the effort of creating such a folder if no one knows of its existence/where to find it.

YOU WILL NEVER BE COMPLETELY READY. START FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE .