Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have to

Melanie Cullen, Shae Irving

Nolo, Nov 3, 2010 - Business & Economics - 424 pages

I bought this book thru Amazon in June 2006 because of my experiences working with a close friend who had just lost his father rather unexpectedly. My friend faced a monstrous task of trying to track down his father's assets, business records, last will, credit accounts, etc. just to scratch the surface. As a participant in his frustration, I began to think about the arrangement of my personal life and how my loved ones would tend to my estate. "Get It Together" brings so much to the table to deal with. I think most people refuse to face their mortality and the task of making such arrangements, let alone there really is a large volume of papers, decisions, conversations, and organization to be handled. GIT is very thorough in all topic areas (see Table of Contents). The book discusses the emotions involved with each topic area, numerous websites to obtain additional information, what to get a copy of, keeping the info current and arranging your "estate" or life, for that matter, to benefit those close to you.

What people are saying

Review: Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To (book with CD-Rom)

User Review  - summershots - Goodreads

Succinct directions for an estate information file. Bibliographies.

Review: Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To. Book with CD-Rom (2nd edition)

User Review  - Becky - Goodreads

Looks like a good organizational tool. I think this would be a great book if you had a couple months to implement it. Basically you organize only important papers and leave a specific list and ...

Contents

• Your GetItTogether Companion: 1
• About This Book: 3
• Completing Your Planner: 7
• 1 Letter to Loved Ones: 15
• 2 Instructions: 23
• 3 Biographical Information: 29
• 4 Children: 39
• 5 Others Who Depend on Me: 45
• 6 Pets and Livestock: 49
• 7 Employment: 55
• 8 Business Interests: 59
• 9 Memberships: 67
• 10 Service Providers: 73
• 11 Health Care Directives: 77
• 12 Durable Power of Attorney for Finances: 87
• 13 Organ or Body Donation: 97
• 14 Burial or Cremation: 103
• 15 Funeral and Memorial Services: 119
• 16 Obituary: 129
• 17 Will and Trust: 135
• 18 Insurance: 153
• 19 Bank and Brokerage Accounts: 167
• 20 Retirement Plans and Pensions: 173
• 21 Government Benefits: 181
• 22 Credit Cards and Debts: 189
• 23 Secured Places and Passwords: 197
• 24 Taxes: 205
• 25 Real Estate: 211
• 26 Vehicles: 221
• 27 Other Income and Personal Property: 225
• Other Information: 231
• A How to Use the CDROM: 233
• B Lawyers and Other Experts: 239
• My Planner: 245
• Index: 391
• Related Products: 405

About the author

Melanie Cullen holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Following 20 years in corporate management, she is a consultant in management and technology. An avid planner and a blue-chip organizer, she lives in Davis, California, near to loved ones who appreciate that her affairs are truly in order.

Shae Irving started at Nolo in 1994 as an author and editor specializing in estate planning and family law issues. She has helped create both books and software, including Prenuptial Agreements: How to Write a Fair and Lasting Contract, Living Wills and Powers of Attorney for California, and the bestselling Quicken WillMaker Plus estate planning software. Irving graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley and briefly practiced law at a large San Francisco firm before joining Nolo's editorial staff.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have to; Get It Together; Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have to
• Authors: Melanie Cullen, Shae Irving
• Contributor: Shae Irving
• Edition: 4, revised
• Publisher: Nolo, 2010
• ISBN: 1413312713, 9781413312713
• Length: 424 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Personal Finance / General; Business & Economics / Personal Finance / Retirement Planning; Estate planning; Estate planning - United States; Estate planning/ United States/ Popular works; Law / Estates & Trusts; Law / Wills