Nobody enjoys disorganization. Think of a grocery store: sure, it can be stressful trying to find that one key ingredient you need for dinner – but imagine if grocery stores just randomly sorted items on their shelves with no labels on the aisles.
If that thought made you shudder, think of an even more alarming situation where a loved one dies without having any system or organization for all their important estate and financial planning information. An estate plan is a great start to getting your affairs in order before you die, but thorough estate and financial plans include centralizing necessary information and assets in an accessible yet secure location. This is imperative for business planning and business succession. So, what might this look like?
Organize & Lock Physical Documents in a Safe Place
Physical copies of important documents may seem like a thing of the past, but these physical copies play an important role in piecing together your financial situation while you’re still alive and securing your estate when you’re gone. If digital alternatives fail, nothing can beat a valid physical document.
You should work to keep physical copies of things like your W-2s, tax returns, marriage certificates, deeds to real property, and similar items together in an organized and secure location. This could be a locked safe or vault or in the hands of a trusted professional. You will need to access some of these at various points in your life so consider this when making plans. Bonus point: make copies of these original documents and keep them in a separate location. This protects you should something go wrong and the documents become inaccessible or destroyed.
Consider a Digital Vault
This one is huge because of modern technologies. A digital vault serves the same purpose as a safe would for physical documents but for digital assets and passwords (including your phone password!). We all have enough trouble remembering passwords for ourselves, so counting on our heirs to attempt to crack those codes would be unreasonable.
A digital vault can be a place you keep digital copies of those physical documents you have, as well as details on what digital assets you hold. Examples include photos, audio/visual content, e-books, social media accounts, intellectual property designations, cryptocurrency, Non-Fungible Tokens, and more. When it comes to crypto and NFTs, it’s imperative that there is a vault that indicates how and to access those items because without the keys to those assets they will be lost forever on the blockchain.
Our Case-Management System
At The Law Offices of Tyler Q. Dahl, we help business owners centralize their assets and information. If you’re looking to sell your company or take it public you’re going to need all your items in order so you don’t end up putting yourself in a tough position. The same applies if you were to pass away and the business is to pass on to an heir.
Our case-management system plays a role in centralizing this information. Contact our team and get your affairs in order before it’s too late.
Dahl Law Group
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