Obituaries & Tributes

Immediate Need

Prearrange Your Funeral

Contact Us

Site Search

A A A

Text Sizing

Gathering the Important Documents

Are you as organized as you should be? Chances are the answer is “no.” In today’s busy life, most of us are just doing our best to hold things together day-to-day.

Then, the unthinkable happens. Someone you love dies, leaving you with more questions than you could ever answer. Like, “Where is our marriage certificate?” Or, “What did we do with the pink slip to the car?”

Now’s the time to do your best to locate as many of the following documents as possible:

  • Wills
  • Birth Certificates
  • Marriage Certificates
  • Deeds
  • Bank Books
  • Stock Certificates
  • Military Discharge Papers
  • Social Security Card
  • Tax Forms
  • Vehicle and Boat Titles
  • Insurance Policies

While you’re going through the desk drawers and filing cabinets, you’ll run across documents that you think may be useful. Add them to the pile. In the coming weeks, you may need them.

If you have questions about anything related to the search for the important papers, call us. We’re here to help.


Thinking Ahead?

That’s great. Having a select place to store important documents, like bills and personal records, can come in handy in helping settle an estate after death without having to search and sift through mounds of paperwork.

Why not create a "When I'm Dead" file? You could name it anything you want, but that title fits nicely.  This is where you’ll organize your family’s documents, so those you leave behind can easily find what they need when the time comes.

So what important documents should you keep in your "When I'm Dead" file? Here are a few suggestions:

  • Final documents, which include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and health care directives. Copies of these documents should also be given to a trusted individual for safekeeping.
  • Income information, including social security and child support and alimony documents.
  • Investment accounts, including retirement accounts, mutual funds, and college saving plans.
  • Credit cards account information
  • Bills and banking information, which involves clearly explaining how bills are paid and includes any necessary information and instructions for bills paid online.
  • Insurance policies, including life, health, auto, and disability or long-term care insurance papers.
  • Other important paperwork, including military records, old tax returns, and birth, marriage, and death certificates.
  • Digital asset account information, which includes email and social media accounts, online services, and financial accounts. You want to organize and store essential passwords, access keys, PINs, and other sensitive information in a safe place that can later be accessed by your family or another trusted individual upon your death.

Our Services

We understand that it is not always possible to pay respects in person, & hope that this small token will help. You can search for your loved one using the form below.

Enter your email below to have our funeral service notifications delivered to you

Providing your email address will allow us to notify you of recent obituaries.

Immediate Need

If you have immediate need of our services, we're available for you 24 hours a day.

Obituaries & Tributes

It is not always possible to pay respects in person, so we hope that this small token will help.

Prearrangement

Dying is one of the few events in life that's certain to occur, yet one we rarely plan for. Should we spend more time preparing for a two week vacation than we do our last days on Earth?

Daily Grief Support by Email

Grieving doesn't always end with the funeral: subscribe to our free daily grief support email program, designed to help you a little bit every day, by filling out the form below.

Weekly Email Tips to Support a Grieving Friend

It's hard to know what to say when someone experiences loss. Our free weekly newsletter provides insights, quotes and messages on how to help during the first year.

Proudly Serving the Communities of Armstrong, Estherville, Fenton, Graettinger, Ringsted, and Swea City
(712) 362-2646 Henry-Olson Funeral Home and Crematory
401 N. 7th Street
Estherville, IA 51334
Email: henryolsonfuneral@gmail.com
712-864-3441 Henry-Olson-Fuhrman Funeral Home and Crematory - Armstrong
506 2nd Ave.
Armstrong, IA 50514
Email: henryolsonfuneral@gmail.com
515-889-2796 Henry-Olson-Fuhrman Funeral Home and Crematory - Fenton

Fenton, IA 50539
Email: henryolsonfuneral@gmail.com
712-859-3919 Henry-Olson-Fuhrman Funeral Home & Crematory - Graettinger
104 N. Cedar St.
Graettinger, IA 51342
Email: henryolsonfuneral@gmail.com
515-272-4242 Henry-Olson-Fuhrman Funeral Home & Crematory - Swea City
408 4th Ave. West
Swea City, IA 50590
Email: henryolsonfuneral@gmail.com
712-866-1006 Ringsted