An online safe deposit box for your important files

If you died today...what would your family do tomorrow?

Don’t lose control of your estate by doing nothing...

Courts make decisions about your estate based on the laws of intestate succession. You and your family are not involved in the decision making process. What are the consequences of not being prepared?

Your final wishes will not be carried out... Your family or worse, the courts, will make decisions about your funeral, cremation, and cemetery services. Your personal memories may be lost to future generations. Your family could be permanently divided without direction about the distribution of your property.

A probate court will prove your will... The waiting period can be anywhere from 6 months to several years before your estate is settled. In the mean time financial accounts are frozen and property cannot be sold. Court costs, probate fess, and attorney fees will be incurred. Your assets and beneficiaries will become public record.

A probate court will appoint an executor... A total stranger could be in charge of your estate. An executor can charge fees for services that can be as much as 5% of the value of the estate and 5% of debts paid. An executor will have to post bond in an amount determined by a percentage of the value of the estate.

Your property will be distributed according to state law and not according to your wishes... Each state has different laws. Your surviving spouse may have to share assets with other family members. Assets, such as a home, may have to be sold to satisfy distribution of shares of the estate. Your heirs could wind up paying excessive taxes unnecessarily.

Your child will become a ward of the state... Your child could be placed in a foster home until a court decision is made. Family members must petition the court for guardianship.

The courts will control inheritance until your child is 18 years of age... A child under 18 years of age cannot directly inherit money. Your life insurance can not be paid directly to your child or a guardian. Guardians will have to petition the court for money.

If your estate documents can not be found when needed then it is as if these documents never existed... Even if you properly prepared an estate plan, it will prove useless if the appropriate individuals cannot locate your documents when needed. Legal documents are often not found for days or even weeks after someone's death, well after the funeral has already been planned. Papers tend to get lost over time. Natural disasters can destroy everything. Even a safe deposit box could be sealed after your death. Insurance companies require that you submit a copy of the entire life insurance policy when filing a claim.

By taking a proactive approach to estate planning you help your family to avoid the unnecessary pain and anguish that comes from not being prepared...

Prepare your estate documents... Seek out a professional advisor who specializes in estate planning. Your advisor should be certified by an accredited organization. At minimum you will need a will. It is also advisable to have a financial and health care power of attorney in case you are incapacitated. Your estate planner will be able to determine the appropriate set of documents for your estate.

Make advanced arrangements for your death... There are many advantages to arranging your funeral, cremation, or cemetery services in advance. Not only do you make your wishes known but you also protect your family from having to make such decisions at a difficult time. Making your own decisions about the type of service, merchandise, and price prevents emotional overspending by family members who can only guess what you might have wanted.

Select a set of trustworthy individuals to carry out your last affairs... They should have frequent enough contact with you so that your absence would be noticed in a relatively short period of time. Candidates might include family members, friends, or co-workers. After confirming that these persons are willing to carry out your final wishes you need to leave them with a written set of instructions designating what duties need to be fulfilled.

Create a list of persons whom you want notified in case of death, along with their contact information... The list of persons can include family members, friends, attorneys, financial advisors, tax advisors, executors, guardians, health care agents, attorneys-in-fact, trustees, and representative payees. Estate++ helps you to create this list by indicating which of these individuals should be notified in case of your death.

Document what needs to be done to take care of your affairs... These affairs might include taking care of your pets and plants, picking up your mail and newspapers, and paying your bills as they come due. Estate++ organizes your personal affairs through a comprehensive set of data entry screens that record details about credit cards, loans, subscriptions, At Home Care by health care professionals, lawn care, maid services, pet care, home security, pest control, private schools, home owner associations, places of worship, bequests, and final wishes. You should also write out a short description of what tasks you assigned and who you assigned them to. Estate++ also records any notes and instructions that you need to leave to others.

Document your legacy... You may want to keep a record of your personal notes as an everlasting gift to future generations, including diaries, memoirs, goals, accomplishments, achievements, values, childhood memories, family history, genealogy and ancestry information, recipes, memorable letters, and child growth charts. Estate++ records your legacy as a series of notes and instructions. Scanned images of legacy documents can be uploaded and downloaded as needed.

Inventory your belongings... List your assets (personal, business, and investment), liabilities, and insurance coverage. Estate++ builds your personal inventory through a comprehensive set of data entry screens. You can record details about real estate, personal property, vehicles, insurance policies, bank accounts, financial assets, award programs, benefits, and pensions. This inventory should also include:

Make your estate documents available to the appropriate persons or institutions... If your estate documents can not be found when needed then it is as if these documents never existed. Overlooking this most important task can cause your estate plan to fail. Your final wishes may not be carried out as planned. With Estate++ scanned copies of your legal documents can be uploaded and downloaded as needed. Estate++ employs a unique collaboration feature that allows you to share documents with others. You can create read-only users for executors, trustees, and key family members that can read your inventory and estate documents. You can also create read-only users for medical professionals to read medical directives only. You can even create an upload-only user for your estate planner to upload the latest copies of your estate plan directly to your estate. Upon your request, Estate++ can also release information to trusted parties in case of your death. Please read our Information Release Policy to find out more.

Summarize your arrangements into a single document... Write out a short description of what tasks you assigned and who you assigned them to. This will help you recall what needs to be done and who will do it. With Estate++, all information recorded about an estate is collected into a single PDF, with just the click of a mouse. This PDF can be printed or transmitted electronically through email.

Periodically review and revise your plans... If one of the persons whom you delegated a task to is no longer able to, or you no longer want them to, carry out their assigned task then you will need to revise your plans. Reminding persons who you assigned tasks to periodically would probably also be advisable. Estate++ makes it easy for you to keep your information current. Information is stored in a secure, remote location protected from computer crashes, theft, and natural disasters. Your information is always available, through the Internet, in any situation, at any time, anywhere in the world.