Few people like to think about it, but face facts—nobody gets out of life alive. With that in mind, it’s important to plan ahead for your eventual demise, and the Nokbox is an excellent tool in that regard.
My dad passed in 2019. He’d been in declining health for several years, having basically given up after my mom passed in 2008. I tried talking to him about his last wishes, estate information, and all that fun stuff several times over the years. All he would tell me was that everything I needed was in a file in his desk. When the time came and I pulled out that file, all that was inside was a two-page Will, nothing else.
It took my wife and me several months to sort through all of his accounts. It seemed like every day brought a new headache to the mix. The vast majority of the hassles could have been eliminated if we’d had the Nokbox set up ahead of time.
What is the Nokbox?
In a very real sense, it’s your life in a box. The Original Nokbox comes with everything you need to organize all of the information your Next of Kin (the Nok in Nokbox) will want after you’ve passed.
There are 15 color-coded file folders. These are set up as categories, such as Primary Residence, Vehicles, and Bank Accounts. Inside each of the category folders are various relevant subfolders. For example, in the Primary Residence folder, you’ll find folders for Mortgage or Lease, Utilities & HOA, Maintenance & Repairs, People, and Home Inventory & Other Information.
Each of those subfolders has a corresponding instructional sheet. On one side of the sheet, you’ll fill in relevant information. There is also a checklist of forms and other paperwork you’ll want to track down and place into the folder. On the other side of the sheet is where you’ll put specific instructions to your next of kin.
The level of detail in the Nokbox is remarkable. Looking at the instructions for the Mortgage or Lease sheet, it drills down everything from the mortgage lienholder or landlord and where those payments are made to detailing all accounts related to the property, such as home equity loans and homeowner’s insurance policies. Everything is straightforward and easy to follow.
A detailed set of instructions explains exactly how it all works. The folks at Nokbox have truly left nothing to chance. There’s no guesswork involved at all. There is even a Friends folder, so your next of kin knows who to notify about your passing.
The Original Nokbox comes with a couple of zippered pouches along with the file folders. One of the pouches is for Protected Documents. This is for things like your property deed and vehicle titles. As you go through the Nokbox instructions, they’ll tell you what to put into that pouch. You store the pouch in a safe or other secure location.
The second pouch is for keys and it comes with colored tags to keep it all organized. These will be spare keys for your home, outbuildings, vehicles, and such. Store this pouch with the Protected Documents one.
Not Legal Advice
It’s important to understand that the Nokbox is merely an organizational tool. Nothing here is legal advice. They aren’t telling you or your next of kin how to settle your estate. They’re just giving you an easy way to have everything they’ll need right at their fingertips.
This is a lot of work, especially if you’re not particularly well-organized. But I can tell from experience that this is something your family will truly appreciate.
For more information, please visit Nokbox.
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