Although we think about Burial, Cremation, Funeral Services, Memorial Services, Celebrations of Life, and of pre-planning as meaning “pre-paying” for our final arrangements, how can you help your family be prepared?
Make certain you inform someone or keep a file or journal in a location known by someone that has all of the information they may need when you are no longer there to guide them.
What type of information? Financial and Statistical…
The financial information and contact information for all of your accounts and where and with whom you own property. Your family will need information such as: where you have bank accounts, investment accounts, pension plans and benefits, the name of your financial planner or investment company (make sure you have current beneficiaries designated), with what company you have life insurance (include the name of the current beneficiary and the policy number), with what banking or financial institution you have accounts with (if you are not joint with anyone, make certain you have a beneficiary designated!), and in what states and counties you own property. Make certain that financial accounts and life insurance policies have updated living beneficiaries…if the beneficiary listed is deceased, the benefits may not reach your intended recipient(s).
The statistical information you will need is primarily dictated by the State of Michigan and includes:
Your legal name, maiden name (the last name you had the day you were born, before ever being married), legal address (where you actually were residing prior to death), date & place of birth (city and state or foreign country), ancestry (the country where your family/ancestors originated from before coming to this country), Social Security number (funeral service providers are required to notify the Social Security Administration of all deaths), if you are a U.S. Veteran (you will need a copy of your DD214 or Military Discharge from the branch of service in which you served for benefits you may be entitled to), the job that you did for the majority of your life and the industry that job was in, your father’s name and your mother’s name and MAIDEN name, your marital status (married, never married, widowed, or divorced… Please note that if you were divorced when your ex-spouse died, you are not widowed, you are still considered divorced).
If you are planning on cremation, you will need to make sure that your legal next of kin are aware of your wishes, as the State of Michigan requires the Majority of your Living Adult Children to authorize cremation. The state defines legal next of kin in the following order: spouse, adult living children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings, niece/nephew/aunt/uncle/cousin (for further next of kin determination, contact your funeral service provider). Also be aware that relatives, beginning with children, require the majority to authorize cremation, unless you have completed a Funeral Representative Designation document where you have appointed someone to be in charge. That document should be available from your funeral service provider.
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