Get it together: Organizing your estate now will ease the burden on loved ones later

When the time comes to administer your estate, to ensure your wishes are carried out, it's vital to be organized, and to let loved ones know how to find what they will need to do it.

"Organization is critical in estate planning, especially for an executor of an estate," says Tyler Cuba, managing partner at Cuba Financial Group in Cape Girardeau. "To simplify the organization process, we utilize our CFG Wealth Manager platform -- software that is used exclusively for the firm's clients -- to aggregate all of the clients' financial data, including digital copies of their estate documents, giving them access to their entire financial and estate plan picture in one secure location. Doing so gives the client comfort in knowing that, at the appropriate time, they can give the executor access to their personal and secure portal where they can find all the necessary information in one location with which to execute their wishes."

The software makes things much easier for the estate administrator or executor, Cuba says.

"This is a game-changer, especially for children or executors who live out of state," he adds.

People who elect to store their own documents need to make sure a spouse, other family members or friends can easily access the important paper, and it's a kindness to them to organize them, such as by creating a filing system.

Cathy Dietl, a professional organizer, runs a business called De-Clutter Bug, and it is all about getting things in order.

One of the many organizing services she offers is helping clients develop a filing system that is easily readable.

"When it comes to filing, I help them set up their files to make it easy for them to find items in those files," she says.

Using a standard method makes the most sense.

"When you put the tabs on the folders, put all tabs on the left side," she says. "Your eyes normally start reading on the left, and if all the tabs are on the left, you can read the tabs easier than if some are on the left, some in the middle and some on the right."

Stack of boxes

Dietl recommends separating documents that are updated periodically from those that will be stored permanently.

"Have a section of files that are yearly files, which means you will clean them out at the end of the year and you will have a section of files that are forever files," she says. "These include life insurance policies, homeowner policies, birth certificates, marriage license, immunization records, wills and any other estate planning documentation."

Color coding can be helpful, too.

"Use colored file folders for different categories," Dietl says. "For example, you can use red folders for medical files; use blue folders for your utilities files; use green folders for your investment files, etc."

Often an adult child is tasked with helping sort out estate matters after the death of a family member.

"Typically, families have one or two alpha-children that, more than likely, will oversee the distribution and settling of an estate. It becomes important that these individuals become involved in the estate planning discussions to gain clarity on how the estate is set up and where important information can be found if needed," Cuba says.

Even when dealing with plans for what will happen after you're gone, like so many things in life, it never hurts to practice.

"In many cases, we have a dress rehearsal with clients and their children, and the various professionals responsible for the estate plan, to rehearse the various steps that are necessary to settle the estate if mom and dad are no longer living," Cuba says. "It's a great way for clients and their children to see how critical it is to remain diligent about proper estate planning, and ultimately, it helps create peace of mind for all those involved."