Prior to Death

Determine Location of Key Items

Ask your loved one for the location of key items and documents (you don't need to discuss the details of these items if one or both of you don't want to; the main thing is to be able to find the relevant information when the time comes):

• Family, friend, and other acquaintance contact information
• Any advance health care directives
• Copy or location of any will
• Safe deposit box locations and keys
• Social insurance number
• Location of keys and combinations
• Property deeds and vehicle ownership certificates
• Cemetery plots or funeral arrangements that may have been prepaid
• Tax submission situation (has the estate owner submitted income tax forms for this year?)

EstateExec is designed to help you organize and record all this information in centralized location, helping to ensure that things go smoothly when the estate must eventually be settled (see Using EstateExec for Someone Still Living).

Consider Access to Safe Deposit Boxes

Many people store important information (and sometimes valuables) in safe deposit boxes. You can ask the bank to search a safe deposit box for a will, but it's easier if you simply have access to it yourself. Consider asking your loved one to add you to the bank's list of people who are allowed to access any such boxes. See also Safe Deposit Boxes.

Inventory Key Assets and Debts

In order to settle an estate, an executor will need to know in advance (or discover post-death) all the estate owner's assets and debts.

Since most people die without even a will, expecting a loved one to nicely maintain a detailed list of all current assets and debts is probably unrealistic. However, discovering things post-death is getting harder: the ongoing migration to digital statements (credit card bills, mortgage payments, brokerage reports, etc.) makes it even more difficult for an executor to try to piece things together by reviewing physical mail received after death.

Consequently, it can be vital for the executor to have access to at least a high-level list of key assets and debts (it is not critical to maintain the exact current value of these items, since while it can be helpful to understand the general magnitude, these values will have to be determined exactly as of the date of death). An estate owner or a future executor can enter this information into an EstateExec estate in advance (sometimes many years in advance): see Taking Inventory for some simple advice on what to list.

Record Adjusted Cost Base (ACB)

It can be very helpful to know the adjusted cost base of most assets (e.g., the original purchase price of a home, the original purchase price of stock shares, etc.), since the CRA requires that the decedent's final T1 pay taxes on the deemed disposition of many types of assets (i.e., the CRA collects taxes on any gains generated by the assumed sale of those assets upon death, even though the assets aren't actually sold). Don't worry... EstateExec can automatically calculate deemed disposition, respecting asset class and any spousal deferments. However, you will need to know the original adjusted cost base of most assets, and this can be challenging to determine after your loved one is gone.

Establish a Separate Email Account for Financial Correspondence

We recommend that estate owners establish an email account used purely for financial interactions. This email account should be used to receive all digital statements and bills, and the access information for the email account can be given to the executor in the advance, or stored somewhere safe that the executor will know to look once the death has occurred.

Access to such an account will allow the executor, when the time comes, to more easily piece together a comprehensive picture of the estate owner's current assets and debts. It will also enable the executor to better understand ongoing financial relationships (such as cell phone plans, insurance coverage, utilities, and more), many of which will be important to deal with quickly. There may be some bills you want to pay immediately, for example to keep an important insurance policy in force, or to keep the heat on so the pipes don't freeze, and conversely, there may be some things you want to cancel before the costs pile up unnecessarily (such as a cell phone plan, or an Amazon membership).

Setting up a separate email account that contains just financial correspondence will overcome the reluctance that many people have to sharing access to their personal email accounts, even posthumously, since there's private correspondence in there that no one else needs to know about. And a separate email account will also make things easier on the executor, since there won't be so many other things to wade through.

Review Digital Assets

Digital assets such as cryptocurrency and NFTs deserve special attention, since it can be difficult to impossible to claim for the estate without exact knowledge of location and password. However, since theft and fraud is rampant with these types of assets, estate owners can be understandably reluctant to share this information in a way that might be compromised. Perhaps your best approach is to agree on a location where this information can be found in the event of the estate owner's death. While you might use an online service for this, it might be safest if the estate owner did this the old-fashioned way, with paper, and perhaps in a couple of locations (just in case something happens to one of the locations, such as a fire).

In addition, some people have significant amounts of airline miles and other loyalty reward program points. It might be worthwhile to ask your loved one if they have any unusually large reward accounts, although note that any such inheritance transfers are usually at the discretion of the program administrator (e.g., United Airlines).

See Managing Digital Assets for more information.

Discuss Online Media Accounts

Online media accounts such as Facebook, YouTube, eHarmony, and LinkedIn don't necessarily have any intrinsic value, and are thus not normally handled by traditional estate settlement processes, but many people would indeed like these to be memorialized, shut down, or transferred. You can ask your loved one their preferences, and he or she can establish a "legacy contact" at many of these services, who will have the ability to take certain actions upon the death of the account holder. Be forewarned that this can be a lot of work that's not normally required of an executor, so you may want to consider whether you want to get into this at all (see Estate Administration of Online Media Accounts for links to the relevant pages for a few of the more popular services).

Discount $$:  Licensed EstateExec users are automatically entitled to 25% off GoodTrust's digital executor service, which can help the estate owner handle some of the legwork in advance, or even just help the official executor with account actions regardless of anything that may or may not have been done in advance. Note that EstateExec does not recommend or receive compensation from third-party companies; we provide these discount offers simply as a service to our customers.

Explore Funeral Options

You may find it easier to compare funeral options and expenses in advance, so that when the time comes you've done your research and have one less thing to think about. Obviously, this is not something you need to discuss with your loved one unless you both feel comfortable doing so (see Funerals).

Consider Obtaining Power of Attorney

Having power of attorney gives you the legal authority to act for the estate owner. While any power of attorney will become void once the estate owner dies, you may find it helpful to have this authority in the final stages, when your executor powers have not yet kicked in, but decisions need to be made and actions taken.

Other Assistance

Although not strictly related to the official executor role, a person who has been named executor often ends up helping the estate owner in various ways towards the end of life, whether simply helping out around the house or helping to find a good nursing home. My Caring Plan offers a variety of resources in this regard, covering everything from assisted living to hospice.

Say Your Goodbyes

Don't wait for the last minute to say your heartfelt goodbyes. There are many things that people realize they wish they had said when someone passes away, and if you have the chance, take it. People sometimes shy away from doing this, because they worry that it reminds the dying person of his or her approaching death, but believe us, they already know. The dying person often greatly values hearing your appreciation of the role that he or she has played in your life, and may have a few words he or she would like to share with you as well.