Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To » (Fourth Edition)

Shae Irving started at Nolo in 1994 as an author and editor specializing in estate planning and family law issues. She has helped create both books and software, including Prenuptial Agreements: How to Write a Fair and Lasting Contract, Living Wills and Powers of Attorney for California, and the bestselling Quicken WillMaker Plus estate planning software. Irving graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley and briefly practiced law at a large San Francisco firm before joining Nolo's editorial staff.

Melanie Cullen holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Following 20 years in corporate management, she is a consultant in management and technology. An avid planner and a blue-chip organizer, she lives in Davis, California, near to loved ones who appreciate that her affairs are truly in order.

Get your life organized with the best workbook available!

Paperwork and personal information isn't always easy to find, and organizing your records can seem like an intimidating task. But, whether you need to organize records for yourself, your family or your executor, Get It Together will show you how to keep track of:

instructions for survivors

secured places and passwords

final arrangements

estate planning documents

employment records

insurance policies

tax records

retirement accounts

government benefits, and

real estate records.

This workbook provides a complete system for structuring a records binder and easily organizing it for your loved ones. The all-new 4th edition is easier to use than ever, with fully updated resources and references. And, if you'd like to work on your computer, use the CD-ROM and print your work and put it into a binder.

Reference & Research Book News

Provides a guide to collecting and organizing important records, and how to store and protect them, for readers and their family members.

About This Book

A. Who Needs to Plan Ahead?
B. How It Works
C. The Perils of Incomplete Planning

Completing Your Planner
A. What the Planner Contains
B. Seven Steps to Preparing Your Planner
C. After You Finish Your Planner

1. Letter to Loved Ones
A. Tips for Writing Your Letter
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Letter Up to Date

2. Instructions
A. In Your Planner
B. Keeping Your Documents Up to Date

3. Biographical Information
A. Where to Get Help
B. In Your Planner
C. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

4. Children
A. Arranging Care for Children
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

5. Others Who Depend on Me
A. In Your Planner
B. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

6. Pets and Livestock
A. Arranging Care for Pets
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

7. Employment
A. In Your Planner
B. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

8. Business Interests
A. Estate Planning for Small Business Owners
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

9. Memberships
A. Types of Memberships
B. Membership Benefits for Survivors
C. Transferring Frequent Flyer Miles
D. Where to Get Help
E. In Your Planner
F. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

10. Service Providers
A. In Your Planner
B. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

11. Health Care Directives
A. Types of Health Care Directives
B. How Health Care Directives Work
C. Choosing Your Health Care Agent
D. WhatYou Can Cover in Your Health Care Directives
E. Duty of Medical Personnel to Honor Your Health Care Directives
F. Where to Get Help
G. In Your Planner
H. Keeping Your Documents Up to Date

12. Durable Power of Attorney for Finances
A. How Durable Powers of Attorney for Finances Work
B. Choosing Your Agent
C. Where to Get Help
D. In Your Planner
E. Keeping Your Documents Up to Date

13. Organ or Body Donation
A. Do You Want to Be a Donor?
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

14. Burial or Cremation
A. Burial or Cremation?
B. Related Decisions
C. Where to Get Help
D. In Your Planner
E. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

15. Funeral and Memorial Services
A. Types of Memorial Services
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

16. Obituary
A. What to Include in Your Obituary
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Obituary Up to Date

17. Will and Trust
A. Which Estate Planning Documents Do You Need?
B. An Overview of Wills and Trusts
C. Choosing Your Executor or Successor Trustee
D. Avoiding Probate
E. Where to Get Help
F. In Your Planner
G. Keeping Your Documents Up to Date

18. Insurance
A. What Kind of Insurance Do You Need?
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

19. Bank and Brokerage Accounts
A. Making Your Accounts Accessible
B. Avoiding Probate for Bank and Brokerage Accounts
C. Where to Get Help
D. In Your Planner
E. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

20. Retirement Plans and Pensions
A. Planning for Your Retirement
B. What Happens to Retirement Accounts When You Die?
C. Where to Get Help
D. In Your Planner
E. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

21. Government Benefits
A. About Social Security
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

22. Credit Cards and Debts
A. Evaluating and Reducing Debt
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

23. Secured Places and Passwords
A. Who Has Access to Your Safe Deposit Box?
B. In Your Planner
C. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

24. Taxes
A. Tax Basics
B. Estate and Inheritance Taxes
C. Where to Get Help
D. In Your Planner
E. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

25. Real Estate
A. Ways to Own Property
B. Special Rules for Married Couples
C. Where to Get Help
D. In Your Planner
E. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

26. Vehicles
A. Leaving Your Vehicles to Others
B. Where to Get Help
C. In Your Planner
D. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

27. Other Income and Personal Property
A. In Your Planner
B. Keeping Your Information Up to Date

Index