Important Business

Readers, let me give you some advice. Today, tomorrow, at some point in the next month, sit down with your parents and have "the talk". I'm talking about the death talk, people. It is very very important. Find out if they have a will. Find out who will be responsible for taking care of things when your last living parent dies. Even if you are not the one responsible, make sure you know where the important information is. You never know if you will have to do something.

My most important piece of advice when your last parent dies is: Order a lot of death certificates, at least 20. They're not cheap, something like $15 each, but you'll need a lot for different accounts. Every company that you contact to tell them your parent has passed wants a copy of the death certificate.

Be prepared to get the runaround. This is not something you will want to deal with at such a delicate time, but it will probably happen. I'm dealing with small little details that can drive a person insane. Closed one bank account, only to find out it was automatically re-opened because my dad had set up an automatic payment at the end of every month. I didn't know where that payment was coming from, so his bank gave me the number of the bank they thought was involved. I called that bank, only to find out that it was from an IRA account. Now I have to call that place.

If you know all the accounts of your parent, perhaps it will be easier. Who is this organized, though? Not many people. In any case, the more you know, the better. I knew one piece of information, but I'm learning so much more. What a process. I'm going to make an envelope called, "What To Do When I Die". It will have all the numbers of people to call, or email addresses. All accounts, who gets the cat, etc. Only problem is, if I ever get my house broken into, it will be a thief's dream come true. Gotta think about that.

Thanks for reading. I needed to vent.