Wills, trusts, probate - clueless and confused

[athena53]

I used WillMaker to create my own will and one of the features I like is that it has sections to document all of your financial account details, list where all your important papers are kept, home safe combination codes, create a living will, etc.

We had our wills and Revocable Trust prepared by an attorney (who DID explain it all clearly and I've also read the document myself).

After that I created a Word document listing what assets were where (despite wanting to keep things simple I have 2 brokerage accounts, an HSA, a checking account, 3 credit cards, HELOC, etc.) I plan/hope to be around for 20-30 more years but I could get run over tomorrow while riding my bicycle. The document has account numbers but not logon info, and contact names and phone numbers. I figure it's enough for anyone to get started figuring out the estate. I sent a copy to DH, my brother (Trustee), DS and DDIL and will update it periodically.

One good thing that came of this was that it made DH and me think through things; nearly everything is in my name and I manage it (his choice and I'm the financial Control Freak anyway). He expressed a concern that if I died suddenly he might have a hard time with cash flow at the start (he gets SS but typically has only a few hundred $$ in his checking account at any time). We agreed that I'd move $25K in a Fidelity short-term bond fund into a new Fidelity account that's JT with Right of Survivor. That was easy!