Many people that I work with feel that if they have a current will completed, their estate plan is organized. While having a current will completed is crucial, there is much more that you can do to make sure your estate is organized.
This “Green Box Exercise” is a process I have found helpful. The idea is that you have one place that all the information on the following check list is stored. It may be a safety deposit box, or a locked cabinet in your home. The Green Box is just a metaphor to define a storage place that is safe and that your loved ones and/or key advisors have access to.
Part of the intent of this exercise is to provide direction to your executors on how you would want your affairs handled in your own words. Yes, the will does provide the legal wording, but a letter in your own words to explain ‘the why’ behind what you are doing will go a long way to helping communicate your key decisions more effectively.
If you are a business owner, do you need an emergency plan for your business as well? If you died today, would your business survive you? Who is left in charge tomorrow? What will your banker do? Who has the authority to make the necessary decisions tomorrow to make sure your business does not suffer? These are big decisions. Having a business emergency plan process in place and documented will go a long way to assisting your company and your executors.
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