A reader asks, 'My mother died in October 2021. What documents of hers should I maintain...
My mother died in October 2021. What documents of hers should I maintain and for how long?Documents such as her Durable Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney and Living Will are no longer needed. They can all be thrown away. Shredding these documents and any other documents you decide to discard is best, as they sometimes contain confidential personal information.
If she died with a will, and you haven't probated it yet, you should definitely retain the original, as it will be needed to probate her estate. If your mother signed any trust agreements or owned real estate, hold onto the original agreements and deeds as well. If there are any other documents that seem important, such as her tax returns, scan them and store the files securely either locally or with a cloud-based storage service. The hard copies can then be shredded.If your mother has years and years of bank and brokerage account statements, and folders full of utility, property tax, credit card, and insurance bills, you may want to keep three years of these, but all the prior years can be thrown out. Again, shredding is best.
The best approach might be for all the owners to choose a realtor to list the property for sale, and have the realtor contact a title company to find out what will be needed for the property to sell. A few affidavits of heirship may be all they require. You can then take the appropriate steps ahead of time so that the sale will not be delayed once you have a buyer.
The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to: [email protected].
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