You Don’t Want to Leave Your Heirs Paperwork, Right?
Imagine, if you will, that a loved one passes away, and you are required to sift through thirty or forty years of financial records and other paperwork during one of the most stressful times of your life. That would not be easy, especially if you're unsure of what you're looking for. What do you keep, and what do you throw away? What's valuable and useful, and what is worthless?
Is that what you want your legacy be when you pass away? Do you want to be the one who kept every piece of paper they received, but left no instructions as to what to do with it? Leaving your heirs paperwork may not be the way you want to be remembered.
Too many people save every piece of paper they receive, and they leave it to their surviving loved ones to sort through it all. Don't be one of those people. Do your surviving family members a favor and only keep what you have to.
What follows is a list of what documents you should keep, and for how long. Everything else should be tossed.
Let's start with the things you should keep in a safe place, like a safe or safe deposit box, forever, or at least as long as possible:
- Birth Certificates
- Adoption papers, if applicable
- Social Security cards (you should not keep these in your wallet)
- Passports
- Marriage licenses
- Divorce papers
- Death certificates
- Records of paid mortgages
- Insurance Policies
- Military discharge papers
Here's a list of papers you should keep for at least seven years, or until you sell the asset:
- Home purchase or sale and improvement records
- Loan records
- Tax returns and any records that document income or deductions. If you file a return, the IRS can audit for three years or six years if they believe you under-reported income. They can only go back indefinitely if you didn't file.
- Stock certificates
- Deeds to property
- Receipts for large items, such as appliances or cars.
- Pink Slips
Here's a list of papers you should only keep for about a year or so:
- Bank account statements and investment statements
- Paycheck stubs (unless you plan to sue your employer at some point)
- Utility bills
- Credit Card receipts
Everything else should probably just go. Most receipts can be retrieved when you need them anyway these days, so there is no reason to leave behind massive amounts of paper. By lightening the load with regard to paper after you pass away, you can leave a legacy your heirs will remember fondly. There is enough stress present when a loved one dies; there is no need to burden them with unnecessary paper. Leaving the people you love with a scavenger hunt after you're gone is probably not the best way to preserve your legacy.
