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About
the Family Estate Organizer
In development for more than a decade, the Family Estate Organizer is state-of-the-art. It comes with everything you need to completely organize your estate: 1) your choice of six 2-inch burgundy, leather-like binders with distinctive brass hardware (as shown in the photo) or six white 1½-inch D-ring vinyl binders (not shown) 2) dividers 3) instructions and assignments for completing the organizing process 4) hard copies of the informational forms 5) 50 plastic sheet-holders for all your legal documents, financial statements, ownership papers and insurance policies and 6) a CD on which will be all of the forms appropriate for word-processing.
You may also purchase the Family Estate Organizer without any binders. (You would purchase your own binders through an outlet of your choice.) You would receive all of the components of the Organizing system except the binders.
When you order the Organizer with the six executive, leather-like binders, each binder will be identified with a label on the spine identifying the estate owner and the volume. When you order the Organizer with the six white vinyl binders, you receive a customized title page on the face of each binder showing the name of the estate owner. On the spine of each binder, the estate owner and volume number is identified (i.e. Jones Family Estate—Volume I).
Complete with all the necessary forms and instructions, you will find the “binder” system to be an easy way to organize your legal, personal and financial documents and records. Also included are 50 pre-punched plastic sheet protectors. With these pre-punched sheet protectors, you never have to punch holes in any of your important documents. You will simply slip documents and other important papers into the sheet protectors and insert them in the appropriate section and binder.
Divided into 14 sections, the binders will hold your documents, papers, records and information so that your survivors can quickly locate all they need, to manage your affairs in the event of your incapacity or settle your estate at death. You may divide up the 14 sections into the binders in any way that is best for you. Typically, you would put Section 1 in Volume I; Sections 2-3 in Volume II; Section 4-9 in Volume III; Sections 10-11 in Volume IV; Section 12 in Volume V; Section 13 in Volume VI; Section 14 will come in a separate binder identified as the “Budget and Bill-Paying System”.
The fourteen sections consist of the following:
Section I will contain your personal legal estate planning documents such as your trusts, wills, durable powers, etc. You will insert each document into a pre-punched plastic sheet protector and then into the binder. The result is that you (while still living) and your trustees/executors (after your passing) will have quick and easy access to these important papers.
Section II will contain other legal documents such as your birth and marriage certificates, etc.
Section III will contain any business documents.
Section IV will be a “To-Do” List for heirs, trustees and executors. My wife especially likes this section. The list will tell her and/or our two daughters the steps to take to settle the estate, from making funeral arrangements to preparing the final tax return. This section will also contain a list of names, addresses and phone numbers of friends, relatives and advisors—people that will need to be contacted in the event of a death.
Section V will contain general information about your immediate family—children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, mother, father, grandparents, great grandparents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. This is a form for a seven-generation family tree. You will find this information form very helpful when such information is needed. It will be especially appreciated by future generations who want to maintain a family tree and have a record of vital information such as possible hereditary diseases.
Section VI will contain a “locator form”—information essential to your survivors’ ability to quickly locate papers and items that are kept in the Organizer as well as in other places.
Section VII will contain a form for leaving a “Spiritual Legacy” to those you love. If you desire to leave such a legacy to your loved ones, this form will give you the opportunity for writing a narrative about your beliefs about God and the spiritual turning points in your life. Such a narrative will be a great encouragement to future generations as they wrestle with the great questions of life. This section will also contain your special requests regarding a funeral or memorial service. This 14-page form will come on a CD from which you can print a hard copy of the form.
Section VIII will contain a form for stating gifts of tangible personal property to certain individuals. This form will go a long way in preventing sibling strife and fights over who gets what sentimental item. I believe this form can greatly help in maintaining peace among the siblings during the estate settlement process and long after.
Section IX will contain a form for estate settlement. It may be used by the executor of your will or by the successor trustee of your trust in determining the net estate after expenses. This is necessary for determining if Federal estate taxes or state inheritance taxes are due and for correct distribution to the heirs.
Section X will contain copies of financial plans, estate plans or any other analyses which were done for you by financial and estate planners. You should not make important financial decisions without having a qualified financial planner give you a written integrated plan which addresses all of your financial and estate issues.
Section XI will contain a form for computing your Net Worth and Projected Death Estate. This computation is essential for determining estate planning needs. An estate planning attorney will need this figure before making any estate planning recommendation. It is also wise to compute your net worth on an annual basis to make sure that you are on schedule for meeting your goals or, if retired, you are not using up your assets too quickly.
Section XII will contain your latest account statements from financial institutions as well as papers showing ownership of other assets. Such papers will be inserted in the pre-punched plastic sheet protectors and then into the binder. They will be needed in the estate settlement, and their easy access in the Family Estate Organizer will facilitate a quick settlement. This will also insure that assets won’t be “lost” during the accounting of the estate. This section will also contain information on your liabilities.
Section XIII will contain all of your insurance policies as well as instructions for obtaining insurance proceeds. It is amazing how many life insurance death benefits go unclaimed, simply because heirs don’t realize that such benefits exist. With all of your insurance policies located right there in the Family Estate Organizer, it will be impossible to miss one of them. As you place all your insurance policies in the pre-punched plastic sheet protectors and then in the binder, you will want to take the opportunity to check your beneficiary designations.
Section XIV will contain a budget and bill-paying forms to assist you in the management of your living expenses. Such forms would be extremely helpful to the surviving spouse, especially if that spouse hadn’t been involved in the actual paying of monthly expenses.
When you receive the Family Estate Organizer, included will be eight easy-to-do assignments to help expedite the organizing process. Without these assignments, you would be running blind in your organizing efforts. The assignments form the foundation for the organizing process. The assignments give specific instructions as to how to complete the forms and which documents and papers should be placed in the Organizer.
If you own a computer, you will appreciate the CD that comes with the Family Estate Organizer. The CD contains all of the forms in the Organizer which are appropriate for word-processing. The CD is in Microsoft Word format. The CD provides for easy updates of your information on the forms. However, you do not have to own a computer or be “computer literate” in order to complete the Family Estate Organizer. You can easily complete the forms which come with the Organizer by hand. I even provide duplicates of all the forms so you will have a blank master copy from which to make copies.
If you choose to receive your Family Estate Organizer in the six white vinyl binders, you will pay only $99 plus $10 for postage and handling. If you choose to purchase your Organizer in the six executive-quality, leather-like binders, you would pay $265 plus $10 for postage and handling. You may also purchase the Organizer without any binders at all for a cost of $79 plus $10 postage and handling.
If you have been named the trustee or executor of your parents’ or other relative’s estate, you should make it mandatory that they purchase the Family Estate Organizer. Work with them on organizing their estate now while they are still alive. Having their estate totally organized will save you countless hours when it is time for you to take over as trustee or executor to settle the estate.
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Family
Estate Organizer, a component of Family Estate Tools.
248 Dandridge Drive · Franklin, TN 37067-8400 · e-mail:
thessnelson@bellsouth.net
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