Get it Together - Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have to by Melanie Cullen - Shae Irving

Unfortunately, I have had far too many phone calls with the spouse or child of a client who has passed away, and the surviving family members know nothing about the deceased's business matters and so forth. Even those that do form wills or trusts forget to take care of other matters that can be so helpful after a person is gone.I found the 3rd edition of "Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family won't Have To" by Melanie Cullen with Shae Irving, J.D. to be a very helpful and practical guide for gathering records and key documents and organizing them for future use. It clearly lays out a method to help you and more importantly, those you leave behind, organize and keep track of essential information and important documents.The book comes with a CD-ROM that contains all of the forms found in the book in Word format so you can do everything on your computer. For those that don't want to use a computer, you can copy the forms from the book and use them that way.The b
ook actually covers a lot of things that most people never think about. I know it contained elements that made me go, yeah, I should do that. The book starts out with a short chapter on the importance of planning and how to use the book and what the planner contains.The book then contains twenty-eight chapters that relate to the sections of your planner. A person could do every section, or may chose not to do section that are not relevant to their situation. Appendix A shows how to use the CD-ROM. Appendix B provides a little information on finding lawyers or other experts you may need to assist you with your planning. After Appendix B, the following pages are title "My Planner" and consists of twenty-eight forms that you can fill in and once complete will be your planner and record of all your important information. All of these forms are found on the CD-ROM so you could do them on the computer, or print them out if you didn't want to write in the book or make copies from t
he book. I noticed in the back of the book that NOLO also sells a binder that has tabbed sections that correspond with the worksheets in this book, so one could purchase that to house the plan once completed.Now let's look at the twenty-eight parts of the planner and what they consist of. 1. Letter to Loved Ones. A nice thing to leave to those you love.2. Instructions. Good basic information about what those you care about should do. 3. Biographical Information. 4. Children. Arranging care, etc. 5. Others Who Depend on Me. 6. Pets and Livestock. 7. Employment. Benefits, etc. 8. Business Interests. Estate planning and other tips for business owners.9. Memberships. Professional, educational, social, etc. 10. Service Providers. Medical, dental, personal, etc. 11. Health Care Directives. 12. Durable Power of Attorney for Finances. 13. Organ or Body Donation. 14. Burial or Cremation. These and related decisions. 15. Funeral and Memorial Services. 16. Obituary.17. Will and Trust.
Longer chapter with good basic information. 18. Insurance. Types needed, organizing what you have. 19. Bank and Brokerage Accounts. 20. Retirement Plans and Pensions. 21. Government Benefits.22. Credit Cards and Debts. 23. Secured Places and Passwords.24. Taxes.25. Real Estate.26. Vehicles. 27. Other Income and Personal Property. And finally28. Other Information.Each section of the book contains information to help you with that section, and also where to go for additional assistance. The chapters also let you know what should be in your planner. The accompanying forms are easy to fill out and keep that information organized.Reading through this book made me realize some of the things I've neglected to do. If something were to happen to me tomorrow, my family would have difficulty with some of my things. Even though I "know" a lot of this, it is easy to not get to it and let things go. I can see how going through this book and actually making a planner with the included form
s would greatly benefit those I leave behind. Just as I think it would benefit anyone. I've just added another goal for this year, to complete an important record and essential document planner for myself. I will use "Get It Together" as my guide to do this. I recommend you do the same, and this book is a good resource for doing it.

View this post on my blog: http://www.yourgamebook.com/get-it-together-organize-your-records-so-your-family-wont-have-to-by-melanie-cullen-shae-irving.html