Last fall, I finally checked a major item off my to-do list: I created a living trust. For those who aren't familiar, a living trust is a legal document that lets you place your assets—like property, bank accounts, and investments—into a trust. It’s managed for your benefit during your lifetime and then transferred to your designated beneficiaries after you pass away, entirely bypassing the probate court process.
After losing my Dad in 2020 and my Mom in 2024, I had a very clear idea of what I did and didn’t want my heirs to go through. To be fair, my parents didn’t leave me a mess, but there were a few hiccups that could have been avoided with a little more foresight. These hiccups were what I wanted to address in my trust. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to finally make that last trip to the lawyer’s office to get everything notarized.
Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about the things my living trust doesn't address. Specifically, what happens to my
Etsy shop and my
website if something were to happen to me? I realized I needed detailed, immediate instructions to handle the digital side of my business. If you shop online from independent operators, you’ve probably heard of—or experienced—transactions getting stuck in limbo because a seller became incapacitated. I never want that to happen to my customers. Etsy does have a policy to close a deceased owner's account after executers contact them with the appropriate documentation. I imagine this could take days if not weeks to accomplish. In the meantime buyers may have their money locked up during that period. This is what I'm trying to avoid.
That led me to think about my partner. He’s a watchmaker who repairs antique American-made watches. People send him family heirlooms from all over the world, and it hit me: If something happened to him, how would I know which of the hundreds of watches in his workroom belong to whom? Where are their addresses? How would I make sure those precious items get back to their owners?
After a little research we determined the best way to address these questions was to encrypt necessary passwords and instructions on a micro SD max endurance memory card. This memory card is then stored in our fireproof safe. Instructions to decrypt the file have been given to our heirs. With this bit of business and our living trust completed we can now get back to the business of living
If you ever place an order through my website or my Etsy shop, please know that your order isn't going into a "black hole." I've taken these steps to make sure everything is handled with care, no matter what the future holds.
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