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“Sorry I am dead.”
This is how Doug Boneparth, a certified financial planner, starts what he calls a “death note” to his wife, Heather.
Such a document, he says, is distinct from other estate-planning cornerstones like drafting a will, which lays out one’s wishes for how to distribute assets upon death. (Otherwise, state law decides for you.)
A death note is more informal — it isn’t necessarily legally binding — but no less important, said Boneparth, president and founder of Bone Fide Wealth, based in New York, and a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.
Its contents aim to ease the administrative work assumed by loved ones when you die.
“This letter is more to help you take control at a time when everything feels out of control,” Boneparth writes in The Joint Account, a couples and money newsletter he pens with his wife. “It fills in gaps and provides immediate access to information that your estate planning documents typically don’t.”
What to include in your death note
A death note may break down all a decedent’s financial accounts — savings, credit cards, investments and insurance, for example — along with associated account numbers and login information.
Likewise for accounts associated with regular household bills: a mortgage, utilities (such as electricity, water, gas, internet and phone), car insurance, gym memberships and streaming services, for example.
It may also include more under-the-radar information: important points of contact like one’s estate planning attorney, accountant, business contacts and close friends — anyone who may be instrumental in assisting loved ones during the first steps after your death, Boneparth said.
Those loved ones will likely also need access to your computer and phone if you die. Such a “digital dilemma” can be overcome by disclosing login info for devices and credentials for any sort of master password manager, he said.
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