Preparing for death, part 2

I feel a little inadequate here, because I am writing about things that I am noting my need to do, but have not actually done. Part of the organization that I wrote about last week will be organizing important papers. Some of that is for me, but also there should be an easy reference for when I am dead.

I have thought about creating a folder for emergency purposes anyway in case there is a need for a quick evacuation. If there is an item that can be quickly grabbed that has the insurance information, with both contact numbers and policy numbers, that can be helpful when we are leaving due to a landslide threat. If it is a fire, you are not supposed to grab anything, so then maybe it is a good idea to have a safe deposit box. Then, you start thinking about all the different ways that things can go wrong and how to provide for every possible contingency, it gets overwhelming, and you do nothing.

My starting point is just going to be a sheet of paper with the basic mortgage and insurance information. Then it occurred to me that the account numbers and contact information for the various utilities could be good. We grab them off of statements, but we have misplaced statements before, and it would have been nice having an easy place to look it up.

At that point, it is still a single sheet of paper, and then letting people know where it is. That doesn't mean that more things wouldn't be helpful, but keeping things simple helps. Start with a few basics and then build on it.

I could make a case that I am being irresponsible, but I am going to spell out the reasons why I am comfortable with that, because it can start some discussion. The main things that will be important in the case of my death are the house and my life insurance. My life insurance policy is through work, and my sister works for the company. They will know if I am dead.

The house still has a sizable mortgage on it. It's not underwater or anything like that, but I have a good twenty years on it, because I did not buy it particularly young. The point of that (with a little extra justification because of self-consciousness) is that there is mortgage insurance with a clear beneficiary as to who gets the house. Having a will in place could strengthen that, but on one level my wishes have been stated.

I have no children, but there are pets. Normally I would say it is very important to establish for their support and guardianship. I have not done that because there are four adults living in this house, and I am assuming that in the case of my death, the other three would step up. If we all die at once, without the pets, then there would be an issue.

If my assets were more complicated, I would be in more of a hurry. I am getting royalties now. It's a small amount, but I'm hoping it will grow. That is something to think about. So, it's on the list of things to do, and there are a lot of resources out there.

This started focusing on the potential obstacle of getting intimidated by complexity or having a lot of work to do, but there is one other potential obstacle that we will get into next week.