Fire Drills and Letter of Instruction – Post Estate Planning Checklist

When you pass away – a thought most people don’t like to confront – your loved ones are most likely undergoing a lot of stress and sadness, grieving their loss. In this time, when they feel kind of lost, wouldn’t you want to help them out?

Of course, the answer is yes!

A letter of instruction does exactly what it’s called. It contains the guideline for your family and representative to follow when they administer your estate after you’re gone. It will be like you’re standing over their shoulder, guiding them yourself.

There is not really a clear cut template as to what you put in the letter. You can leave as detailed or direct instructions as you want. Theoretically, you want to leave enough information that they won’t have trouble getting started.
The basic information that should be in there includes a list of your assets and where they can be located, safe combinations, vehicle titles, computer passwords, and the location of other title documents.

You can get into more details as well. For instance, the letter could include directions for what to do with your subscriptions (Netflix, cable, phone, newspaper, etc.); information for your medical, legal, and financial advisors that need to be contacted; location for your funeral; whom to invite; preferred program for the obituary; and others.

The letter can also be the way you distribute untitled property that holds a lot of meaning to your family. This way your beneficiaries can savor those sentimental items rather than having them sold along with the home.

At this point, you may also have your letter of instruction but does your family where to find it? This is what the fire drill is for.

If you recall your own time in middle school, fire drills are likely to stick out for you. These drills are used to inform and show the students what to do and where to go to exit the building in case of a fire. Without actually carrying out the drill, all the school has is a plan on paper. By physically acting it out, the students can practice exactly what to do to be safe.

The fire drill we are talking about may be a little morbid but estate planning lawyers will suggest that you give it a go. You and your family will have to pretend that you have died – which is not ideal – but for the sake of their ease, it is something you should play out.

You can walk them through what they are supposed to do. There are various things you can discuss during your walkthrough. All of these things are essentially the things you covered in the letter of instruction.

You would discuss the disposal of personal items, directions on artificial life support, your wishes for residence in case you can’t live at home, the subscriptions that need to be canceled, etc. One of the most important subjects to cover is the location of your estate planning documents.

When you pass away, you probably don’t want your loved ones to scramble in order to locate your estate planning documents. In this walkthrough, you should tell them where the following are:

• List of advisors
• Funeral and/or burial plans
• Original trust or will document
• Power of attorney and other documents
• Safe or deposit box key
• Passwords for your accounts

We understand that facing your own mortality can be a little hard. The fear of death and leaving your family behind is valid and real for all. However, taking the step now and making realistic plans can save them a lot of trouble in their time of loss.