Side by Side: The Final Affairs Organizer for Couples

Every subject in one place, for both of you.

Most couples organizers give each partner a separate section. The result: when your family needs an answer, it is split across two halves of the book. This one puts you side by side - one column for each of you on every personal page, so your Social Security, your doctors, your care wishes and your funeral plans sit next to each other, exactly where someone will look for them.

Two columns where it matters, one shared page where it does not

Personal pages - identity, family, military service, Social Security and Medicare, health care agents and directives, funeral and memorial wishes, obituary notes - have a PARTNER ONE and a PARTNER TWO column. Shared pages - bank and retirement accounts, insurance, property, vehicles, bills, subscriptions and online accounts - have a simple box to mark whose it is: one, two or both.

Twelve printed tabs, findable with the book closed

Each section has a tab printed on the edge of the page at its own height. Close the book and you can see all twelve. Nothing to assemble and no dividers to buy.

Written for the United States

Social Security and Medicare. Medicaid. 401(k) and IRA beneficiaries. VA benefits and the DD-214 that unlocks them. The state DMV for vehicle titles. The three credit bureaus. The checklists for the first days and months include the real phone numbers for Social Security and the VA.

What is inside

• Start Here. Where this book is kept, who knows about it, and the five calls to make first.
• About Us. Identity, family, service and work - side by side.
• People to Contact. Professionals who hold your paperwork, and everyone to notify.
• Documents and Where They Are. The map to every important paper.
• Money and Accounts. Banks, retirement, pensions, investments, debts, credit cards.
• Insurance and Benefits. Life, Social Security, Medicare, long-term care, property, VA.
• Property and Vehicles. Deeds, titles, safes, and who should have what.
• Bills and Subscriptions. What must keep being paid, and what to cancel.
• Digital Accounts. Email first, then everything else.
• Health and Care Wishes. Agents, directives and what matters most to each of you.
• Funerals or Memorials. Service, music, readings and obituary notes for both of you.
• For Our Family. Checklists for the first days and months, and private letter pages for each of you.

A deliberate omission

There is no place in this book to write a password. It records which accounts exist and where the password list or password manager can be found - which is what a family actually needs, and far safer if the book is ever lost.

8.5 by 11 inches, 130 pages, matte cover.

An organizer, not a legal document. It does not create or replace a will, a trust, or an advance directive. For those, see a licensed attorney in your state.