If-im-gone – A cheat sheet for if I am somehow incapacitated

It's quite long, so I will not repeat it, here, but I think it's pretty useful. It was written by someone that has had quite a few health issues, and for whom, this is not an academic exercise.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31752778

I came to comment that the OP linked git hub checklist is quite low effort.

My wife is extremely intelligent, capable and has an MBA so I have no doubt she could figure things out in my absence. The goal of the doc is just to make things easier for her if I unexpectedly get hit by a proverbial truck. It's now been a few years and I've been surprised how the document slowly creeps out of date over time one item at a time. So, now I've picked a once a year date when I update it.

I created this doc when a couple we know went through a sudden death. They had wisely prepared in all the legal paperwork and typical financial docs but after the initial shock, mourning and recovery, I saw how the more mundane stuff like household IT, backup servers, home automation, etc was still a pain for the surviving spouse.

I was able to help him figure things out because I had physical access and our departed friend had done things in logically organized ways but it was still yet another thing to deal with. What I didn't fully appreciate until I saw it up close is just much unavoidable stuff is thrown at someone going through this in the first couple months. It quickly becomes overwhelming because it's all at once and at a time when they are emotionally nuked and understandably functioning at reduced capacity.

The second is that things like signed witnesses are greatly preferred and generally required to grant a will automatic legitimacy, but not strictly required for a will to hold up in court [1], and then only if the will is challenged anyway.

An unwitnessed[2] will of this sort is usually termed a hollographic will. Most states recognize these, most other states will recognize them if they were created in a state that does so. Such a will has to clearly express the intent to act as such based on its language and it has to be clear that it came from the deceased. Traditionally that would mean handwritten but courts are slowly adapting to the digital age-- they key thing is the ability to attribute authorship to the deceased.

Even putting all of that aside, just about any document from the deceased attesting to the deceased wishes can be used as an instrument for disposing of an estate, at least so long as it doesn't conflict with any other document that meets that state's probate requirements as a will.

In short, if beneficiaries agree on the issue then all is generally fine no matter the document. If they don't, the courts have to settle things and they give preference first to witnessed documents but make an honest effort to adhere to the wishes of the deceased as expressed in other ways. (Even witnessed speech acts by the deceased are admissable)

[1] source: a close relative practices family law and deals with this type of mess all of the time, even when they're the one that made the will & organized its signing and witnessing.

[2] "Witness" has a legal definition which itself may vary by jurisdiction by it usually included a requirement to sign the document, not merely be present to attest to things at some later point. (Notarization is a good idea as well but generally not required)

If I'm in a coma I want my partner to be able to access my bank information and important documents without going through a legal process.

> Step-up in basis refers to the adjustment in the cost basis of an inherited asset to its fair market value on the date of the decedent's death.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stepupinbasis.asp

Many elders in my immigrant family have passed, but because my family has a distrust of lawyers and the legal system, we've managed to never receive this benefit.

I also look at repos/documents like this more of a way to provide a checklist and for passing information on that often isn't captured in the legal documents that make it easier to perform or access things. For example, the information on logging into a password manager, how to use a backup code (or the 2FA if possible) could prevent having to go through the courts to gain access (and some of the more code-first policies may even prevent other users from gaining access without the proper credentials even if a company wants to help - not even talking about things like crypto where it could just be totally lost without the encryption password).

Right now for me someone would have to just morosely rifle through all my belongings

I think you've misunderstood the purpose of this work. It's not about the end of the world, it's about the end of you and making the transition for the ones you love as easy as possible.