Get it Together – Organize Your Records So Your Family Don’t Have to by Melanie Cullen – Shae Irving

Unfortunately, I have had too many phone calls with a client’s spouse or child who has passed away, and the surviving family members know nothing about the deceased’s business affairs, etc. Even those who make wills or trusts forget to take care of other matters that can be so helpful after a person is gone.

I found “Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Will Not Have To” Third Edition by Melanie Cullen with Shae Irving, JD a very useful and practical guide to collecting key records and documents and organizing them for the future. spent. It clearly establishes a method to help you and, more importantly, those you leave behind, organize and keep track of essential information and important documents.

The book comes with a CD-ROM that contains all the forms found in the book in Word format so you can do everything on your computer. For those who don’t want to use a computer, they can copy the forms from the book and use them that way.

The book actually covers a lot of things that most people never think about. I know that it contained elements that made me say, yes, I should. The book begins with a short chapter on the importance of planning and how to use the book and what the planner contains.

The book then contains twenty-eight chapters that relate to the sections of your agenda. One person can do all the sections, or they can skip the sections that are not relevant to their situation. Appendix A shows how to use the CD-ROM. Appendix B provides some information on how to find lawyers or other experts you may need to help you with your planning. After Appendix B, the next few pages are titled “My Planner” and consist of twenty-eight forms that you can fill out and, once completed, will be your planner and a record of all your important information. All of these forms are on the CD-ROM, so you can do them on your computer or print them if you don’t want to write in the book or make copies of the book. I noted in the back of the book that NOLO also sells a binder that has tabbed sections that correspond to the worksheets in this book, so one could purchase this to house the plan once completed.

Now let’s look at the twenty-eight parts of the planner and what they consist of.

1. Letter to loved ones. A good thing to leave the ones you love.

2. Instructions. Good basic information about what your loved ones should do.

3. Biographical information.

4.Children. Organize care, etc.

5. Others who depend on me.

6. Pets and Livestock.

7.Employment. benefits etc.

8. Commercial Interests. Estate planning and other tips for business owners.

9. Memberships. Professional, educational, social, etc.

10. Service Providers. Medical, dental, personal, etc.

11. Health Care Guidelines.

12. Durable power of attorney for finances.

13. Donation of organs or bodies.

14. Burial or Cremation. These and other related decisions.

15. Funeral and memorial services.

16. Obituary.

17. Will and Trust. Longer chapter with good basic information.

18. Sure. Necessary types, organizing what you have.

19. Bank and brokerage accounts.

20. Retirement and Pension Plans.

21. Government Benefits.

22. Credit Cards and Debts.

23. Protected places and passwords.

24. Taxes.

25. Real Estate.

26. Vehicles.

27. Other Income and Personal Property. And finally

28. Other information.

Each section of the book contains information to help you with that section, as well as where to go for additional help. Chapters also let you know what needs to be on your agenda. The attached forms are easy to fill out and keep that information organized.

Reading this book made me realize some of the things I have stopped doing. If something happened to me tomorrow, my family would have difficulties with some of my things. Even though I “know” a lot about this, it’s easy not to get into it and let things flow. I can see how reading this book and making a planner out of the included forms would greatly benefit those I leave behind. Just as I think it would benefit anyone. I just added another goal for this year, completing an important record and essential document planner for me. I’ll use “Get It Together” as my guide for doing this. I recommend that you do the same, and this book is a good resource for doing so.