What info do you leave behind for house-sitters?
 

So my parents are more than just house-sitters, but as I was showering (where I do my clearest thinking), I started pondering what information I should leave with them.

Obviously, the information about my where-
abouts and contact numbers, as well as any pertinent info for my dear dog Buddy. And of course the usual; what day the garbage goes out, when to chlorinate the pool, etc.

But do you leave information like insurance policy numbers (home, car,life)? What about bank account numbers?

And if you are away for say, a month like we will be, do you pre write your bills and have them fill in the amounts and send them off or do you contact each company and ask to double the bill the following month?

I don't leave behind bank account #'s or insurance policies because I plan to come back alive. :-) But it never hurts for a trusted family member to have this info whether your are traveling or not.

As for bills, I either pay them on line or I have them auto-billed to my credit card. I haven't used checks to pay bills in years. By paying on line, you can pay from anywhere in the world.

I plan on coming back as well but thought I'd throw that in. It started me thinking of if the house was broken into, or some kind of fluke thing like a fire.

I'm not trying to throw any bad Karma out there, just trying to be prepared.

As for my bills, well I pay both ways and guess I'll have to figure out a way.

I leave the names and phone numbers of my favorite nieghbors.
A watering schedule for my garden. If I were going to be gone a month I wouldn't want my fruit trees to go too long without a deep watering.
I always leave instructions on how to work any appliance that may be unfamiliar, like the remote controls my sister housesits for me but she rarely flips through my television channels.
I set up a space for her on my computer.
If she needs a house insurance policy number, she'd better call.

good point! Enough said.

Leave info for your alarm system, if you have one.

Well I don't have anyone housesit for me as I now live in an apartment.

A close neighbor pickes up my daily mail, my daughter gets it from her about every 5 days and takes care of anything that needs attention. My neighbor waters any potted plants I have.

My daughter and SIL have the info regarding my insurance policies plus info on everyone that I do business with such as the attorney, the accountant, the stockbroker etc. They also have all my credit card accounts and my bank information. They have for years. If some did happen to me (hopefully on the way home from a trip not while going or being on a trip ::) ) I want them to have all necessary information so they would have the least stress as possible.

Actually they use the same business people, bank etc. that I do so each is familar with each other which is good. They have a key to my resident and an extra set of keys to my vehicle. I try to cover all basis "just in case".

Thanks LoveItaly. I feel the same way.

How do you handle payment of your bills? Prepay online, prepay another way, ask them to double bill the following month?

Namaka,

On the few occasions that I have had to miss an entire billing cycle because of travel, I have called the service provider and let them know. Here's what happened both times---they said they would make a note in the file that I had called and that I would be on vacation. Then they said that the system would automatically send the next bill with an overdue charge added. When I got back, I was to call and have them credit back the overdue charge.

In other words, they were perfectly happy for me to skip a bill and then pay both when I got back. They just couldn't set it up in the computer and used this method as a work-around.

My suggestion would be to call the service provider and they will have some easy solution.

Have a great trip!

LisaG

>>>By paying on line, you can pay from anywhere in the world.<<<

I've thought about doing this also, but wondered about the security of using internet cafes, someone's ability to track keystrokes, and a bunch of other pesky thoughts. Do you not worry about that or do you take your own computer / blackberry to access the internet?

Just curious... my bank does provide a way for me to schedule payments automatically, but I was wondering about alternatives.

Thanks!

Just as a matter of estate planning (not that anyone wants to plan for that purpose - but, hey, think of the hassle it will save others in the event they need to find this stuff), it is not a bad idea to put together a list of bank accounts and numbers, insurance policies, investment account numbers, generally a list of all assets to keep along with your will (assuming you have one) - I keep such lists in clients' files. Let somebody you trust know where to find that stuff.

I mention this not to be morbid but because I just had a situation with a client where that was needed and it made the family's life much easier. Nobody would want Buddy to go without adequate care!

cantstayhome has raised good points. When you leave for an extended period, it is important that someone knows where you keep records on all of your accounts and also where your Will or Trust document is located. It should not be in a safe deposit box!!! Take it from one who is now adminstering the estate of someone who died prematurely and unexpectedly, without a Will, write one. Otherwise, you leave a mess behind and lots of money that would have gone to your heirs is eaten up in court and attorney cost.

Trophywife007:

Yes, I have concerns about security, but these days we are vulenrable to computer crime even from home. Just a couple of weeks ago I saw on the news that the Univ. of TX School of Business system was breached and many SS#'s, names, and DOB's of former students were stolen. I called the University and at that time they didn't know whose info was stolen and whose wasn't so they told me to be proactive and put a fraud alert on my credit reports. I did that immediately, then last weekend I got a letter from UT confirming that my information was indeed stolen. So some hacker in the Far East has my name, DOB, SS#, address, etc. Great.

So to sum it up, yes I'm very concerned about security, but right now I'm feeling so snake-bit by those hackers that an internet cafe in Paris doesn't scare me nearly as much as a large database like UT's with with my life's story up for grabs. :-(

Sorry to digress, I hope I have answered your question.

Hi P_M, I understand what you are saying and unfortantly that is so true. But my stepdaughter who has a job that really gets into security for computers has always told me to not to pay bills online from public computers. And I never take my laptop with me when I travel.

Most of my bills go on my credit card. All but two utilities do. The few that don't is paid by my daughter and she and my SIL are authorized to sign checks on my checking account. That is good even if I was so ill I couldn't pay those bills. And of course if my credit card arrives while I am gone they can pay that from my checking a/c too.

I have all legal documents that one should have..a will, a durable power attorney for health and a durable power of attorney that my attorney can have the court immediately put into force if I was incapacitated.

I have on record with my insurance company, my stock brokerage company, my accountant, my credit card companies, my bank etc., that my daughter has the legal right to conduct business for me.

So whether I am at home or on a trip, whether I become incapacitated or die I have all basis covered..at least according to the "experts" that I do business with.

Cantstayhome and Orcas have posted some good and valuable information IMO.

And one other comment. Do all of you with underage children have people designated to raise your children if the need arises? And do you have someone legal named to handle the money that your underage children will inherit if something happens to you? That might be or not be the same people that you have named to finish raising your children. Either you make the decisions or the courts will make the decisions for you..and those decisions may not be what you would have wanted.

It isn't pleasant to think of all of the "what IF'S" but once you have taken care of everything life and planning and going on trips is so much more relaxing. At least that is my viewpoint on life.

Hi, LoveItaly.

Your stepdaugher's adivce makes good sense about not paying bills from a public computer so maybe that's not the good idea I thought it was. So let's make a new plan: My bank allows you to choose a future date for a bill to be paid. So make an estimate of how much your bill will be, (better to overestimate) and set it to pay on the date you wish. Of course, do all this from your home computer before leaving.

Thanks for all of the other good advice, it makes a lot of sense.

Hi there P_M, yes, my stepdaughter would approve of your plan!!! Some might think she is overreacting but she just got back from a long conferance and some of it was regarding this very subject, again.
I am constantly being told to be careful about the wireless connections too..and believe me P_M I am not a computer expert by any strech of the imagination. But having a lot of computer experts in the family I do listen to what they tell me.

I live in California, so my instructions always include where and how to turn off the gas and water services. Even if you don't live in earthquake country, minor disasters can be minimized until professional help arrives.

P_M and LoveItaly:

Thanks. I also think that you're correct regarding the scheduling of payments through the bank being the smart thing to do... better safe than sorry, as they say.

Appreciate your responses.

I tell them where the wine and the corkscrew are. They're intelligent people. They can work out the rest for themselves:)

We leave a second spare key with someone uninvolved with the sitting, in case the sitter loses his/hers. We leave our passport numbers in case we need to access it from overseas (although we do carry a xerox), Speaking of passports, we also carry a spare set of passport pictures. Pictures are a $7 and 5 minute errand at home, but they can turn into a multi day hassle in the wrong country on the wrong day-that is another story. We turn off our answering machine so people can not leave us chores to do in our absence. My husband tells the sitter to call if anything happens. I go behind him and say do not call us even if the house burns down.( We will have plenty of time to repair, update, grieve, etc when we get home.). lynclarke