Day 61: Help You Help Them
by Edward Smith
04 Sept 2020
Defining Your Legacy
In this article I want to talk about a little thing called a legacy box. You aren't going to live forever. There is nothing you can do about it, but that doesn't mean things are out of control.
Wills and a legacy box tell people what to do, and where things need to go. If you plan to pass away at some point, do so with a legacy box. It's the greatest gift you can leave your family.
Having A Box Vs. Not Having One
When I was growing up, I witnessed a grandma that passed away that didn't have one. Her funeral was messy. Nobody knew what to do, where to go, or what was going on. This led to infighting and frustration. Instead of her passing being about her and her memory, her passing became a chore for those left behind. That is what they remember.
I also had a grandfather that passed away, and his funeral was clean and easy, because he had taken the time ahead of time to lay everything out in detailed fashion. When he passed, things were pretty easy.
His instructions were clear. His daughter just had to follow the steps. Thanks to him, the obstacles were removed. People were able to find things and take care of things. He did this with a will and a legacy box. People got to spend their free time grieving and remembering a good man.
Create a Legacy Box
Think of a legacy box as a shoe box full of important information with a set of easy to understand instructions. It's kind of like a box of cake mix. The instructions tell you what to do, and the contents allow you to do it. You may be missing something, but the instructions bring attention to it and tell you what you need. No figuring things out. Follow the instructions, get results.
Legacy boxes are kind of like your third level of defense.
Your first level of defense is done within your financial accounts themselves. You need to go into all of them and update your beneficiary list. That is super important. If you don't do that, you're going to create a bunch of problems.
This is how it works. When you pass, you send each account a copy of your death certificate. If your account has a beneficiary listed, that person gains control over the account. If that person is not listed, then they can't do anything.
You can't edit the names after you're gone, and the people left behind can't change anything either. Whatever you have listed is how it goes, so make sure the names listed are correct ahead of time. It's the only way to ensure your wishes are carried out.
Your will is your second line of defense. In your will you might state how your estate gets split up and where you want all of your big or important things to go. It also tells your lawyers who is in charge of doing what. This ensures you don't have random people mucking up the process, like uncles and aunts that show up unexpectedly to get a piece of the pie.
Your Legacy box is your third line of defense. You can think of it like the supplement to your will.
What a Legacy Box Does
Think of it like this. If I pass away, and I leave my house to my kid in my will, the kid gets the house. Awesome. Except maybe not so awesome. If you have ever owned a property, you know running a property is complicated. There are house payments and utility bills. These things must be paid on time, and you know who you pay for each thing. People outside of your house don't, and that includes your offspring
If you fail to pay an important bill on time, the lights and water will go off. Creditors will get mad and people will threaten to foreclose on the house. If you don't lay out a plan, your kid could get stuck with a huge headache, and if it's not taken care of in time, your kid could lose it all. No plan, is usually a bad plan. Have a plan. Lay it out for those left behind.
The Legacy Box Keeps Things Working
The legacy box provides people with everything they would need to run your house like you ran your house. In the box, you provide your account numbers, your log in information, and the schedules for when everything is due and to whom.
If you have services that need to be cut off, you tell them who to call, and how to cancel things. The idea here is the person getting the box, opens the box and surprise, they don't have to figure anything out. No loose ends. No hidden problems. Everything has a direction and everything gets handled and paid for on time.
That gives your next in line some breathing room, a clear path, and it shows them the kind of person you were and are. Instead of making things difficult, you set the game on easy mode.
Conclusion
If you are like me, you don't like talking about death. That doesn't mean you avoid it though.
If you're like me, and you have family, you need to step up and be responsible. Take some time out of your busy schedule and start putting together a written and easy to find plan. It's super important. Your family will be super happy because you did it, and you'll make your passing way easier to deal with once your gone.
You don't get to decide when your time is up.
That being said, you do get to decide what information you leave behind and how to manage everything. Update your accounts so that the right people get your things when you are gone. Create a will, to let people know where everything is going, and then create a legacy box so that your wishes can be carried out in an organized fashion. That's how you leave a legacy. Create a legacy box. Best gift ever.
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