So this is a fairly morbid subject for this time of year, but it’s something that I feel I need to do to ‘get my ducks in a row’ as it were. What would happen if I popped my clogs tomorrow? There are so many things that Sam would struggle with- not including the emotional aspects of losing a wife! I’m also hoping that Sod’s Law comes into play here: if I am prepared for the worst it won’t happen!
- For a start as I’m self employed he’d have to work out who my clients are, how best to contact them and let them know that I’m not able to work.
- He’d then have to work out where I am with my book-keeping and file a tax return for me at the end of the tax year, and then pay the tax bill
- He’d need to work out who my banks and any credit cards are with, contact them and let them know what’s happened, and then cancel direct debits and standing orders and the people who they link to, cancelling phone contracts and subscriptions.
- He’d need to contact the bank where we have a joint account and rearrange that.
- Get in contact with the mortgage company and our life insurance company and set the ball rolling to arrange the payout.
- He’d need to contact the schools and all the kids clubs and let them know, and take over any payments for those.
Of course as well as all of those points there’s the friends and family that would need to be contacted, the funeral and all the other practical things.
Just writing this has made me feel like we both need to do a bit of ‘just in case’ preparation. I’ve heard of people creating ‘family files’ that are folders of information that they would grab in the event of a fire at home. In it would be copies of passports, insurance details, mortgage and house details, latest bank statements and so on.
I think I need to create a file like that for us, but one that also includes things like client details, the location of a document online that holds all my passwords. Of course this would be encrypted securely somehow until needed,but my laptop, email and banking passwords would be a mystery to him otherwise!
Whilst thinking about all these things it’s also got me thinking about how we would manage when our parents pass away. Who do they bank with? Where are there wills? Who do we need to inform? I mean I really hope we’re a long way off from having to deal with anything like this, but it’s definitely something to start thinking about! There is a lot of useful information about what do when someone dies here, including some check lists, slightly morbid but definitely not something to bury your head in the sand about! You can compare quotes for free with FCA regulated broker Reassured.