Personal Details

The first step in your death preparation planning is to provide your personal details. 

Yes, your family knows you, but additional personal details will be needed. 

For example:

• Your full legal name
• Date and place of birth
• Full address
• Social Security number

Funny thing about legal names. We tend to use nicknames quite a bit. For example, my sister is a "junior". She was named after my mother, but my mother had a nickname.

Since women are rarely juniors, I doubt there are more than a handful of people who know that my sister's legal name is not her nickname!  I suspect even fewer would recognize her first name. It was never used, and most of our generation didn't know my mother's real name. 

Make sure that you LEGAL NAME and peronsal details are in the hands of your lawyer, or Executor/Executrix or Person-in-Charge (PIC)!

Sometimes You Need Those Family Tree Details

While it may be different from state to state, in many instances, the Executor or Executrix will also need to know:

• The names, birth dates, and dates of death (if applicable) of your parents
• The names, birth dates, and dates of death (if applicable) of all your siblings
• The same information for your children
• If you were previously married, the name(s) and date(s) of death (if applicable) of your former spouse(s)
• And in some cases, the names of your parents' siblings and your cousins!  

I know this sounds preposterous, but my dear friend was an only child, had been married and divorced and her ex-husband pre-deceased her, as had her parents. The courts in New York State insisted that I collect all of this information to be sure that anyone with a potential interest or claim to her estate be identified. 

I ended up having to basically give them a family tree for hers and her parent's generations!