Last month a news story hit that underscores the importance of organizing your financial affairs while you are able. In this story a husband died, and with his death passed the knowledge of municipal bond he had owned jointly with his wife. Going unclaimed, they reverted to the State of Wisconsin. Thankfully the State researches these assets and tracked down the man's widow. Lesson from this story -- don't trust that your spouse / partner / family will remember all of the various assets you own. Don't even count on you remembering all of them! One easy solution is to create a simple one sheet overview of assets, and keep it with your financial papers. Include savings accounts, CDs, bonds, stocks, insurances, etc.
A little leg work now may save your heirs hundreds of thousands of dollars!
Remember, a blog is not legal advice. Please seek counsel from a licensed attorney in your state.
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