Melanie Cullen

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Get It Together Now

Welcome to Get It Together Now, a new column about organizing your important records—for yourself and, eventually, for your loved ones.

Melanie Cullen is the author of Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won’t Have To (Nolo), a workbook/CD-ROM for preparing and organizing your important records—for yourself and for your loved ones. To help you organize your records, Melanie has created a companion binder; for purchase information, please visit her Web site at www.getittogetherbook.com.

Melanie is a management consultant with TerraSys Consulting, Inc. and serves on the Projects@Work editorial board. She holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Melanie Cullen's Blog

Your pets and livestock

What will happen to your animals when you die? While you’re organizing your records and considering loved ones wrapping up your affairs, you may wonder how to plan for your pets and livestock. What will happen to them when you die? Who will take them and care for them? Here are some tips for planning care for your animals when you’re no longer able. Today, while you have the time and you’re able to do so, take the following steps: 1. Identify a home. Identify the type of home yo… Continue

Posted on October 24th, 2009 at 1:09pm — No Comments (Add)

Who's in charge?

If something happens to you, who watches over your health care, finances and other important matters? No matter your life circumstances—whether you’re young and raising a family, or elderly and caring for yourself—you have plenty of responsibilities. For example, you make decisions about your health care (selecting doctors, choosing treatments) and handle financial matters (paying bills, choosing insurance, filing tax returns, managing your personal property and perhaps real estate). If… Continue

Posted on September 18th, 2009 at 10:39am — No Comments (Add)

Retirement Accounts

What happens to your retirement accounts when you die? Despite the rough economy, you’ll probably leave money in your retirement accounts when you die. Here is a brief overview of what will happen to those accounts. Also, to ensure that your loved ones take possession in ways that maximize value, here are some tips for you to follow today. Probate & Taxes The money passes directly to the beneficiaries you have named on the account. Even if your estate is subject to probate,… Continue

Posted on August 21st, 2009 at 10:01am — No Comments (Add)

Probate

What is it—and why does it have such a bad reputation? We’ve all heard of probate, and it seems we all know it’s “bad” and to be avoided. But what is it really? And, given your circumstances, should you make arrangements to avoid it? If so, how can you do that? First, an overview of what it is. What is probate? Probate is a legal process for distributing property that has been left through a will or that belongs to someone who died without a will. During probate, the decedent’s… Continue

Posted on August 11th, 2009 at 11:26am — No Comments (Add)

Storing your important records

Where and how should I store them? Some years back, while discussing Get It Together at a retirement community, a participant posed this dilemma: If I collect up… Continue

Posted on July 23rd, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments (Add)

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