How to Plan Your Legacy: Advanced Guide
This guide goes beyond the basics to cover where to gather important documents, who to talk to, and how to keep everything secure and organized. It is written for families who are ready to go deeper into legacy planning and want to reduce delays, costs, and stress when working with professionals.
Why planning matters
Planning ensures you have core documents in place and that those documents are accurate, up-to-date, and accessible to the right people. It means fewer back-and-forth requests with attorneys or financial advisors, shorter cycle times, and more confidence that nothing has been missed.
Family Harbor supports this process by giving you one secure, centralized place to organize information and share it safely with family or professionals.
Identification and vital records
In addition to basic IDs, advanced planning involves collecting certified copies and ensuring they’re valid.
- Birth, marriage, and death certificates: Order through your state’s vital records office. The CDC maintains a directory of links: CDC Vital Records Directory.
- Military records: Veterans should request a copy of their DD-214 discharge papers through the National Archives eVetRecs system.
- Citizenship and immigration: Passports, green cards, or naturalization certificates should be current and stored securely.
Insurance policies and beneficiary verification
Don’t just collect policy numbers — confirm beneficiaries are correct and policies are active.
- Life insurance: Request a current “in-force illustration” from your insurer.
- Employer benefits: Check HR portals for life, disability, or supplemental coverage.
- Beneficiaries: Verify names, addresses, and Social Security numbers across all policies. Inconsistent records are a leading cause of delays.
Example of how this is done:
- Log into each retirement and insurance account.
- Navigate to “Beneficiaries” or “Account Details.”
- Confirm the listed individuals are current.
- If you’ve had life events (marriage, divorce, new children), update them now.
- Save or screenshot the confirmation page.
- Upload into Family Harbor under “Insurance” or “Retirement Accounts,” tagged as “Verified.”
Financial accounts and asset documentation
Advanced legacy planning focuses on clarity and traceability.
- Bank accounts: Collect statements or confirmation letters.
- Retirement accounts: Contact custodians (Fidelity, Vanguard, etc.) for a beneficiary confirmation letter.
- Brokerage and investments: Keep recent account statements. If you own private stock or LLC interests, retain operating agreements.
- Real estate: Store deeds and payoff statements, available through your county recorder’s office.
- Business interests: Gather succession plans or buy-sell agreements.
Tip: Create a single contact sheet with bank names, account types, and support numbers.
Estate documents and legal instruments
If you’ve worked with an attorney, collect signed, notarized copies of:
- Will
- Trusts (revocable or irrevocable)
- Financial and healthcare powers of attorney
- Living will or advance directive
- Guardianship designations
If you don’t have these yet, you can often download state-specific forms. The ABA maintains a list of resources for healthcare directives: ABA Advance Directives by State.
Digital assets
Digital accounts are increasingly critical.
- Email accounts: List providers and recovery contact info.
- Social media: Decide whether to memorialize or delete. Most platforms allow you to set preferences in account settings.
- Cloud storage: List where photos and documents live (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox).
- Subscriptions: Keep a list of paid services so executors can cancel them.
Tip: Use a password manager and record where the master key is stored. Family Harbor can document which manager you use and who should have future access.
Professional contacts and responsibilities
A complete plan should map out who does what.
- Attorney: Include firm, direct contact, and last engagement date.
- Financial advisor: Record their firm and direct line.
- Insurance agent: List company, policies, and contact info.
- Executor/trustee: Outline their responsibilities and instructions for accessing Family Harbor.
Household and property matters
Advanced planning covers everyday details often overlooked:
- Vehicle titles and payoff letters
- Safe deposit box location and key
- Utility accounts with account numbers and online logins
- Storage unit contracts or leases
- Burial plots or prepaid funeral plans
Tip: Keep a “property map” — a document listing what you own, where it is located, and who should handle it.
Taxes and government benefits
- Recent tax returns: Retain at least three years.
- Social Security: Download your latest benefits statement at SSA.gov.
- Medicare/Medicaid: Record ID numbers and plan details.
- Veterans benefits: Save VA claim records or award letters.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Not updating beneficiaries after a divorce or remarriage
- Having a will that contradicts beneficiary designations (the account usually wins)
- Forgetting digital assets, leading to lost photos or subscriptions that drain money
- Leaving out business interests or succession plans
- Not telling your executor how to access your documents
Family Harbor can help avoid these pitfalls by providing prompts and reminders when key categories are incomplete.
Family conversations
Planning isn’t just documents — it’s people. Have open conversations about:
- Who is willing and able to serve as executor, trustee, or healthcare proxy
- How you want medical decisions made if you cannot speak for yourself
- Whether your children or heirs understand the basics of your financial picture
- Preferences for funeral or memorial arrangements
A question you should ask your family: “If something happened to me tomorrow, would you know where to find the life insurance policy? Who would you call first?”
Family Harbor makes these conversations easier by giving you a shared, organized hub rather than a pile of papers.
Secure storage and sharing
- Centralize documents: upload scans and tag them in Family Harbor
- Control access: give limited access to attorneys, advisors, or executors as needed
- Track updates: note when each document was last reviewed
- Back up: keep both digital and physical copies with clear access instructions
Putting it all together
Advanced legacy planning is about creating a roadmap that saves time, reduces errors, and protects your family. By going beyond the basics — confirming beneficiaries, gathering state and federal records, covering digital assets, and opening family conversations — you create clarity and peace of mind.
With Family Harbor, you can take what would otherwise be scattered across drawers, file cabinets, and email accounts, and bring it all into one secure, shareable hub.