Ask ten Florida families where the will is and you’ll get ten different answers. It’s in the desk. The lawyer has it, I think. My sister knows where it is. It’s in a shoebox in the garage.

Just because it’s stacked up in a decades’-long pile doesn’t mean it has to remain a negative in your eyes. Families deal with the paperwork left behind by a recently deceased parent or hospitalized one.

In full disclosure, I’m no estate expert. What follows is just a big list that my other adult self would appreciate finding tucked in the back of a drawer somewhere. A working list, really, that I would refer to were I to need to find some long-lost paperwork in a flash, or have someone else hunt it down for me post-haste.

Start with the big three

First up is your Will, where you name the Personal Representative (also known as the Executor) you want to handle your estate and then you can specify exactly how you want to dispose of your property. Importantly, you name a Guardian to take care of any minor children and you have two witnesses sign in your presence (with one notary public’s signature on a self-proving affidavit as an added layer of protection).

If you have a Revocable Living Trust, gather up a copy of the Trust Agreement and all Amendments to it. While many retirees here have set up Trusts to manage their property while they are still alive (especially if they own a home up north), the Trust only manages the property that has been retitled into the Trust. So, make a list of what property is in the Trust.

The durable power of attorney for another example. This is a document that your daughter can use to pay your mortgage while you’re recovering from a stroke in the hospital for example. As stated above, two witnesses are required to witness the signature of the person granting the power as well as a notary public. In addition, certain powers are required to be initialed in order to indicate that you are purposefully granting or withholding said power.

Medical papers

Note that our state includes a number of end of life decisions in two separate documents: (1) the designation of health care surrogate which is the person that you would want to make decisions on your behalf when you are unable to do so and (2) your living will which goes through all of the end of life decisions with respect to things such as life support, including ventilators and whether or not you would like to remain on life support in order to attain recovery. Also, a current HIPAA release.

Follow the money

Many parts of your estate are not even covered by your Will, including life insurance proceeds (e.g., a 20 year old policy that names an ex-husband as beneficiary), Individual Retirement Accounts (e.g., a traditional or Roth IRA), retirement plan benefits (e.g., 401(k)), and “payable on death” accounts at banks and other financial institutions. Those benefits will be distributed in accordance with the beneficiary designations for those accounts – regardless of the provisions of your Will.

While you're at it, gather:

The odds and ends

Birth and marriage certificates, as well as divorce decrees, passports, and Social Security cards. If you are a veteran of the military, a copy of your DD-214 form, which the VA requires before granting burial benefits to a deceased veteran and their family.

Note to each of us – write a one page letter and in simple language detail: your attorney; the location of the originals of all your signed documents; your wishes concerning your funeral. That’s all. That will take about 20 minutes to write. That may be the most intelligent page you ever write.

Now make it findable

This is typically where most plans fall apart. There are often papers in 3 different locations and only 1 person knows for sure where the original documents are kept.

That’s why we built DokuDocs – to store signed copies of your documents in a private, encrypted vault and note where the originals are located. On our Family and Legacy plans, you can then choose who you wish to give access to your documentation and our Auto-Alert system will notify them for you when the time comes. The storage of originals is a separate matter that we recommend to be stored safely, and DokuDocs’ vault simply ensures that there is known where originals are located.

Once a year (around tax time) pull out your complete set of papers and update any items as necessary – i.e. marriage, divorce, new grandchild, new house, etc.

This article is meant to serve as general information not intended to cover all instances or serve as legal advice. Consult with a Florida-licensed estate planning attorney to receive specific guidance and review of your circumstances.