When a tragedy strikes a family, and a parent or spouse passes away, the last thing the family would like to do is to be scrambling about looking for documents and papers to begin the probate or estate administration process. This is one of the steps that potentially take a lot of time to put together, especially if there are a lot of assets to deal with and the number of potential beneficiaries are large.
By being prepared beforehand, a lot of trouble and inconvenience can be avoided. One important way to be prepared for this eventuality is to prepare the necessary documents to facilitate the estate probate / administration process. For a more comprehensive approach on estate planning, you can refer to the series on the 7-Step Estate Planning Framework.
This article provides a checklist of documents to prepare to lessen the impact of the tragedy when a love one passes on:
Estate Planning Documents
These are some of the most important documents to have around:
- Wills and any Codicils. The originals will be required because if the originals can't be found, then it's presumed the decedent destroyed them and has passed away intestate.
- Trust Deeds and any amendments.
- HOTA related documents: Organ Donor Form or HOTA Opt-out Forms
- MTERA related documents: Organ Donation Pledge Form.
Asset Information
Copies or originals of the following documents will be needed:
- Life Insurance Policies: note that some insurance companies will require the return of the original insurance policy.
- Beneficiary Nominations: for CPF, NTUC life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and payable on death accounts
- Deeds for Real Estate: there's a common misconception that the original deed is needed, but a copy will work just fine
- Vehicle Log Card: the originals will be needed to transfer legal title. This might be held with the financing company if there is an outstanding loan on the vehicle.
- CDP Account Statements. The executor may need to setup a separate CDP account for the estate before being able to manage the stocks held there.
- Brokerage Account Statements. For stocks / shares held in a custodial account (e.g. Standard Chartered retail brokerage account)
- Stock and Bond Certificates: for stocks or bonds held in certificate form, the original certificate will be needed to transfer legal title. This is mainly for overseas stocks.
- Bank Passbooks. For managing savings / current accounts held with banks.
- Any other documents and deeds that convey ownership status on the deceased
Bills
Copies of the following bills will be needed:
- Utility Bills
- Mobile Phone Bills
- ISP Bills
- Cable or IPTV Bills
- Credit Card Bills
- Mortgages and Personal Loans: including lines of credit, balance transfers
- Property Tax Bills
- Storage Unit Bills
- School Fees
- Medical Bills
- Funeral Bill
Business Documents
If you own any businesses, then copies or originals of the following documents will be needed:
- Share certificates
- Shareholder agreements
- Partnership agreements
- Buy-Sell agreements
- Personal guarantees
- Account Statements:including bank, brokerage, and retirement accounts for at least the three months prior to death
- Business contracts: leases, loans, mortgages, ongoing contracts, employment contracts, license documents
- Tax Returns
Death Certificate
Multiple, original death certificates (at least 10) will be needed to settle the decedent's affairs. The various banks, insurance companies, government agencies will require the death certificate in order to begin processing any claims.
You can get a free PDF copy of the death certificate within 30 days of death of the deceased from this ICA website.
