My girlfriend’s mother just passed unexpectedly this week. She hasn’t updated her will since the mid 80s, she had no medical directive, and seemingly did not have her life insurance long enough that they would cover anything, they are just refunding what she has paid to the present.
This has us both thinking about getting ourselves set up properly just in case. We haven’t paid it much mind until now as we don’t have all that much, and no kids, but now that we are seeing the difficulty not having those things brings when people least need added stress, we want to start pursuing it.
What have you done to prepare your family for these types of events and how did you determine what sort of insurance and plans you needed for your situation. Also have you ever either had to deal with a relative leaving no plans behind, or did someone do something that made the situation much easier?
Insurance brokers tend to be competent educators.
Wills are easy to create using online templates. Make at least two physical copies, one digital, and get them notarized. Store them in different places. And, make sure several people know where they’re stored even if they don’t have access to that place.
Wills can be very simple, such as “all to wife”. Mine is barely more complicated than that, just providing a series of two alternatives for if my wife is also deceased.