Nobody wants to talk of dying, and yet…

Did I just say the “D” word? *looks over my shoulder like a paranoid scam artist (haha, sorry I couldn’t resist!)*

During the Registered Financial Planning course that I took last year, the lawyer who lectured about estate planning kept on using euphemisms like kicked the bucket, passed on, met his maker, gone under, crossed over. He just couldn’t say the word “death” and it was amusing to see his face contortions whenever he had to talk about it.

I’m not a linguist, but it’s obvious that language is a mirror image of culture and human behavior. Filipinos don’t like to talk of death – especially when someone’s on his deathbed. A financial planner that I know had to be hired by a family just to tell the old man that he was going to die soon and he had to figure out how to divide his estate for everyone’s sake.

I asked him how he was able to do it and he looked at me with professional detachment in his eyes and shrugged. “I just told him. Someone had to do it,” he said. Don’t you just love letting professionals handle the difficult stuff?

Many of us, however, will not be able to afford a professional. We need to do the planning and handle the difficult stuff ourselves. I’m pleased to say some people are actually doing that. Last week I received several emails that showed people are planning for the future. Tricia asked:

I have numerous five-year time deposits at various banks. Will these accounts be automatically transferred to my spouse and kids if I die before the accounts reach maturity? Can they withdraw without problems? What are the documents to be prepared? – Tricia de Guzman

Once a bank knows its depositor is dead, the deposits will be as inaccessible to the person’s family as Cristina Aguilera’s hotel room number to the public. You know its there, somewhere, but you will have no way to get to it. The only withdrawals allowed are bank charges.

So, what do we do?

Pay first the estate tax. Prepare the documents you need to show the bank. Click here for the list of documents that you need.

Sounds like a maze of rules? Some couples opt for a joint account instead…or delaying publication of the obituary and withdrawing the money as soon as possible. Let it not be said, however, that MoneySmarts recommends such an act. Ehem.

The key here is that your family knows what to do when the unexpected happens. Keep a record of your bank accounts, and keep them updated and hidden in a safe place.

Can we say the word “death” now? After all, it’s just another step to another kind of existence…and if you didn’t scam anyone in this lifetime, you should be at peace.

*Bad typing fingers! That wasn’t me! *

Peace!

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