Contents of the Family Love Letter
The Family Love Letter is designed to:
- Provide information in a time of grief, stress and confusion at death or during an incapacity;
- Minimize the types of inadvertent mistakes which often occur during this turmoil; and
- Has as the primary purpose – to reduce the confusion and stress, which almost always accompanies the death or incapacity of a loved one.
Family Love Letter is not a financial or legal document, but a system that may help women and men get their financial house in order by organizing their thoughts, wishes and assets.
Every one of us leaves a paper trail.
- The longer one lives, the more one acquires and the Longer….Deeper…. and Broader it grows.
- Families often are left with no roadmap to follow a deceased’s or incapacitated person’s paper trail.
The Family Love Letter consists of 5 Sections in organizing all the information one wishes his/her family to know:
Section I – Advisors and Assets
Section II - Financial Information
Section III – Insurance and Benefits
Section IV – Legal Documents and Other Information
Section V – Family History and Ethical Will
The first 3 sections of the Family Love Letter capture all the financial information regarding assets, liabilities, investments, insurance, retirement benefits, military benefits, credit card information, subscriptions, frequent flier miles, prescriptions, medical/medicare specifics, and household income/expenses.
Section 4 allows one to list his/her Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, passwords to computers and websites, important phone contact, handling of digital assets, and it directs how one wants his/her special needs family members and loved pets to be cared for. It addresses the listing of all personal items in the homes and who one may want to receive these items, and what information may be needed in the event of incapacitation and death. It includes important numbers such as drivers’ license, social security, passport, and medicare number etc.
Section 5 captures family history, information about religious, fraternal and charitable activities, as well as one’s medical history. The Ethical Will portion of this section captures what has been meaningful in one’s life and what were those things he/she accomplished during life, their values, and traditions he/she wants to be passed-on to the children or grandchildren.
Of course, each section offers much more relevant detail.
