My parents and two of my mom’s sisters are enjoying a trip to England  right now. The four of them go on a trip about every four years, the last time to Italy. What’s different is that right up until they got out of the car at the airport , my parents were reminding me where the keys to the safe deposit box are located.

Maybe it was the recent terrorist scare in London , or just the worries that come as they near their 60th birthdays , but never before have they been so concerned with preparing themselves and my sisters and me for what to do in the event of their untimely demise.

Before they left I went down to their bank and was added as a signer to their safe deposit box . Why me and not one of my sisters? I live the closest, and it was the easiest thing to do. But it was necessary in case something should happen so I could get the life insurance documents and other papers out without having to wait for everything to go through probate .

They also left a list of everything in the safe deposit box, their will, their insurance policies, and how much each of us owes them—to be deducted from any inheritance—in a file in their desk drawer, which my dad told me about a half dozen times. My aunt did her part in preparing for the trip by talking to a lawyer about updating her will  before she left. A widow with four kids and eight grandkids, she wanted to be sure everything was covered.

They did all of this plus cancel their newspaper, hold their mail , have my sister take care of the cat, and remind me to water the plants and put out the garbage cans (which I did obediently).

All of these things are good to do, but I’d suggest not waiting for an impending vacation to push you into action. Think about safekeeping documents, updating a will, and communicating all this with your family. Although I did just realize that if something were to happen to mom and dad, we have no idea where they'd want to be buried. Something we’ll have to discuss when they get back .