How to Document Your Estate
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Over the years, I have had the privilege of administering the estates of three separate individuals: my mother, grandmother, and a very dear friend. Prior to my friend’s passing away, he asked that I be administrator of his estate and mentioned everything was in order and very little needed to be done. In review of his affairs, I discovered his idea of having affairs in order meant that he had a will, letter of intent, funeral arrangements, and all assets liquid. With further investigation, I realized the day would come for me to carry out his wishes, and there was much I was not aware of. After we worked on his, in comparison to my mother’s and grandmother’s estates, my friend’s was quite easy. The author's web site is
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About the Book
You might ask, why document your estate? Why do individuals create a will? Why do individuals spend countless hours and dollars in planning their estate? For the same reason you created your will and planned your estate, documenting your estate is the last and most important step in having your affairs in order. It allows you, your executor, administrator, and beneficiaries the ability to find your assets and execute your wishes and intentions, in the event that you are incapacitated or pass away. As well, it serves as a confidential checklist giving peace of mind in knowing you have reviewed and made aware your wishes and intentions. How To Document Your Estate is a practical guide for organizing your affairs. The book shows you step by step, how to create, compile, and update one concise report for reference and due diligence in the event of an emergency. How To Document Your Estate includes countless examples and practical tips. The book is broken into sections where each segment stands alone and can be done in any order. Topics include:
How To Document Your Estate will benefit you, your beneficiaries, administrators, and executors. Whatever your age or situation, the information is priceless.
Testimonials:
"It’s about time somebody wrote something like this. There’s more to croaking than writing a will." --An Estate Attorney, Texas
"I do want a copy of Steve’s book for me . . . I wish I had something like that when Jim was so sick." --Mary, North Carolina
The author's web site is www.estatedocumentation.com.
About the Author
Steven K. McLaughlin, (Steve) was born in Quincy, Illinois. He spent his early childhood in Hutchinson, Kansas and Richardson, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). He received his Bachelor’s of Business degree in Organizational Behavior Management from the University of Houston and Technical Writing Certification from Richland College in Dallas. Over the years he has worked in the computer, accounting, managerial, and technical writing fields. Steve has two grown children, Jonathan and Jennifer. He and his wife Lee currently live in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. His memberships have included The Administrative Management Society, The National Association of Professional Organizers, Toastmasters, The Society for Technical Communication, and several genealogical affiliations. Steve’s passion is writing, whether it is genealogical recordings, documentation of systems, processes, and procedures, or just plain correspondence. Eventually this passion, combined with the responsibility of being administrator of three estates, compelled him to organize his own affairs, and document his estate. Over the past several years, Steve has settled three estates. The first two were those of relatives. He found this sad task challenging and frustrating from the administrative perspective, due to the "not knowing." Steve felt it should be a simple matter to administer a small estate with an uncontested will. What should have been a simple task became much more. When his friend Don, who had a terminal illness, asked Steve if he would be the administrator of his estate, Steve said, "On one condition." That being, Don would work with him to organize his affairs. They did this work together and when Don died; Steve settled the estate, quickly and without indecision. Steve realized that many people are in the same situation, so he decided to share his experiences with the hope of making the sad task of settling a loved one’s estate easier.