Ottawa-based Essential Life Data today announced the launch of its online tool for gathering and organizing the essential information required to administer an estate.

Created by a team of experienced financial service professionals, Essential Life Data evolved from a paper-based executor guide, “The Virtual Executor”.

According to the company, Essential Life Data makes it easy for consumers to review their financial situation, legal arrangements and other important decisions, like their choice of executor, on a regular basis.

The product has been designed to act as a collaborative platform for consumers, executors, powers of attorney and financial advisors, providing a place for them to communicate and work together.

“With Essential Life Data, we wanted to give people a tool they could use to store, organize and manage personal and financial information throughout the course of their lifetime and make the estate administration process as simple as possible for everyone involved,” says Gerard Arsenault, Essential Life Data CEO.

Arsenault is an advisor with more than 25 years experience in financial planning. He is a life and qualifying member of Million Dollar Round Table, with Top of the Table and Court of the Table honours.

The site employs stringent security features similar to those used by banks, the company says.

All information that is entered into Essential Life Data is time stamped, IP-address stamped, stored securely, and backed up regularly. Each account is stored in a completely separate database and the company’s servers utilize the latest encryption tools and data-security features.

The company is currently marketing a free two-month trial to new subscribers. Potential subscribers can also contact their financial advisors as to whether they are authorized resellers of the tool.