When Joel Brown’s father passed away, his grieving family went through an ordeal to find the paperwork necessary to close accounts, notify clients and perform other business tasks.
When his father-in-law passed, the family missed an opportunity to claim life insurance because the policy had not been renewed. Had he known the policy was about to lapse, he said, he would’ve paid the renewal.
Learning from those experiences, Brown founded and is the CEO of an end-of-life planning software called DocuVital, a one-stop shop for important documents needed in the event of a death. Brown likens DocuVital to the popular income-tax preparation software TurboTax. He said it guides a consumer through easy-to-use steps to acquire, organize and safely store paperwork and photos, like a virtual safe.
“We deliver the information to their loved ones or family members when they’re gone so they can wrap up their life more quickly and easily — saving them thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours during their time of grief,” Brown said.
He found help in an unlikely place. His business was one of 15 financial technology startups selected to participate in the Miami Fintech Forum. The event, which promoted inclusivity in the financial sector, was organized by a partnership of Citi Community Development, Village Capital and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at FIU.
Read the full story at BizNews.fiu.edu
