Tidy Up The Paperwork before I Die
Part 2 of Things to do before I die.Tidying up the paperwork is something we all need to do (especially me!) but it becomes crucial in your final years. Why is it so important to tidy up the paperwork?
2) Before I die: If there is a MASS of paperwork to tidy up
every single piece will have to be checked carefully by your executors to avoid losing important documents or accidentally committing tax fraud. And you won’t be there to help.Remember that your executors will have to swear an oath that the information they provide to the authorities is true and complete. If they get it wrong, tax penalties can double the amount of tax payable AND reclaim it from the executors. So professionals will be very careful, and family executors should certainly be careful. Just imagine the amount of time which will have to be spend checking that old bills have been paid, finding out if old savings accounts still exist and identifying which assets exist. It is quite common for executors to have several black plastic sacks of paperwork to examine in detail. That takes time and costs money.
3) Before I die: Tidy up the Family Records
People are far more interested in family history than they used to be. Why not organise any old documents and photographs logically, with clear identification of the people in the photographs. Your children otherwise may have no idea who they are and just bin valuable family history documents. If you are trendy and do this online, make sure access can be and is passed on to the next generation. If not, keep it in carefully labelled folders or boxes.
4) Before I die: Do NOT tidy up the paperwork by throwing everything in the bin.
This is a really common mistake – people tidy up all the paperwork by throwing it in the bin. This means that the executors have to recreate the information, potentially asking the banks to provide 7 years worth of bank statement to check.It is often the case that assets are not discovered until a statement comes through perhaps a year after the death – by which time the estate has normally been sorted. By this time the property will have been sold and the “lost” asset is just added to the billions of pounds worth of unclaimed assets. If you are lucky, the letter finds its’ way to the executors who may then have to re-open the case, apologise to the Taxman and pay any fine they decide to levy!
5) Before I die: How to tidy to paperwork.
- Keep a simple list of assets and their locations in a safe place. If you are a member of the Peace of Mind Service they can keep that for you, alternatively you can let your executors have up to date copies. In this digital age, many assets are never discovered because there is no physical evidence of their existence!
- Keep a list of gifts that you have made for at least the last 7 years and sign it off at the end of each tax year. There is a list in Inheritance Tax Secrets, but if IHT isn’t a problem, you don’t need to spend the money, just make up your own list.
- There might be unclaimed assets that you have forgotten about – as I write this I have an Abbey National account in front of me where the last entry was 21st July 1987 – perhaps an unclaimed asset search isn’t as daft as it sounds!
Back to things to do before I die part 1.