Author's Insights

Credit Cards

Credit and debit cards are the primary way people presently make purchases and pay bills. In my When The Time Comes organizer, there is a section just for information regarding credit/debit cards.

As I write about in my organizer, this one area of a client's estate took me many weeks to address. Having found over 20 credit/debit cards lying around this person's house that were stuck in drawers, found in boxes, a few in a wallet, and a few mixed in with stacks upon stacks of paperwork. This chore alone was the most difficult to bring to completion while working this client's very small estate.

I had no way of knowing if the cards were active or inactive? Was there a balance due on the cards that needed to be paid? Were there automatic withdrawals for monthly bills being deducted? This became a nightmare trying to contact each card company, going through all the automation steps before reaching a person to speak with. I didn't know any of the passwords or security questions they requested and since I was not listed on any account, they had to transfer me to the legal department within the credit card company.

Once I had the fax number to the legal department of the credit card company, I had to fax all of my legal paperwork to them before they could even speak to me on the telephone regarding the account. That required waiting a few additional days after faxing my legal documents until they updated the information in the client's account record. Then, I had to start over again by making the same phone calls and go through all the automation process, before I could speak to someone to either close the account or determine what payments/deductions were due on the accounts.

Many of these cards had no balance and several had never been used. Some had been replaced by newer cards but had never been destroyed. One had a credit balance due to my client. After weeks and weeks of phone calls and faxes and copious notes taken, this one section of the estate was finally completed. Between faxing and calling, it would be safe to say that I made over 80 calls/faxes to address this one area of the person's estate.

Think about this for a moment and do your family, your personal representative a favor today. Gather every credit or debit card you have in your possession and begin the process of culling out and destroying those never used or expired. Make a list of the current cards with all the contact information recorded. List any automated deductions that are done on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis on each card. Be sure to list the passwords and security questions attached to each account.

This one act will save your loved ones countless hours of work and unneeded stress during an already stressful time.

Record this information in the organizer

DISCLAIMER:  The author of When The Time Comes does not claim to be an expert in the fields of banking, investments, accounting, insurance, real estate or law. The author does not provide legal advice. The information contained in this binder comes from the personal experience of the author working with families and individuals over the past 40 years as a registered nurse, health advocate, POA, Guardian and through pastoral care. Readers are advised to contact experts in the respective fields listed in the binder for additional information.

© 2022 Carol Havens | All rights reserved
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