General information · not a substitute for the advice of an attorney · Valoren is a publisher, not a law firm.
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Death binder checklist
What to gather into one binder so the people you leave behind are not searching for it: where the papers are, who to tell, and what you want. It is a list of things to write down, nothing more. It does not say what anyone must do.
§1Identity and personal papers
Birth certificate, and where the original is kept
Marriage certificate, and any divorce decree
Social Security card, and where it is kept
Passport and driver’s license, and where they are
Medicare card, and any other health insurance card
Military discharge papers, if you served, and where the original is
Naturalization or citizenship papers, if any
Adoption papers, or any court order about the family
Any record of a change of name
These are the papers every organization asks for and nobody can find in the moment. Write down where each original lives rather than putting them all in one place that could be lost at once.
§2The will, and where the original is
Whether there is a will, and when it was signed
Where the signed original is kept, and who holds it
The name and contact details of whoever is named as executor
Whether that person knows they have been named
An alternate executor, if one is named
Any trust, and who the trustee and successor trustee are
Any later amendment to the will, and where that original is
Any earlier will, marked as replaced
A letter of wishes, if there is one, and where it is
A copy of a will is not the will. Where the signed original is kept is one line to write, and the first thing anyone will look for.
§3Money coming in and going out
Checking and savings accounts: the bank or credit union, and the last four digits only
Certificates of deposit, savings bonds and any other savings
Brokerage accounts, and where the statements come from
Each retirement account separately: workplace plans, individual retirement accounts, and who holds each
Any pension, with the plan’s name and a contact
Social Security and any other benefit being paid
Employer, and a named contact in human resources
Bills paid automatically, listed by who is paid
Credit cards, loans and anything bought on credit
Anyone who owes you money, and anyone you owe
Each account is a separate organization with its own paperwork, so list them one by one, never as “my accounts”.
§4The home, vehicles and other property
The home: owned or rented, and whose names are on the deed
Where the deed is kept, and the title insurance policy if there is one
The mortgage servicer, and where the statements come from
The landlord or property manager, and the lease, if you rent
Any other property, land, timeshare or storage unit
Vehicles, and where each title is kept
Any boat, trailer or other vehicle with a title
Items of real value, with any appraisal or receipt you hold
A safe or safe deposit box: where it is, and who has the key
Write down whose names are on the deed and on each title. It is the first question anyone dealing with the property will ask, and the answer is not visible from the outside.
§5Insurance
Life insurance: the insurer and the policy number
Who is named as beneficiary on each policy, as far as you know
Life insurance through an employer, and the contact there
Any annuity, and the company that pays it
Health insurance, Medicare and any supplement plan
Homeowners or renters insurance, and auto insurance
Long-term care insurance, if any
Any prepaid funeral plan or burial policy, with the provider
Write down who is named as beneficiary on each policy, if you know. It is one line on the page, and it saves a search.
§6The digital side
The main email address, the one every other account resets through
How a trusted person reaches your password manager, without any password written down
Phone and computer, and how each is unlocked
Subscriptions, and anything that renews on a card
Social media accounts, and any legacy contact already set
Photos and cloud storage, and who should have them
Domains, websites or an online business you run
Loyalty points, airline miles and gift card balances
Any cryptocurrency: that it exists, and who already knows how to reach it
Write the route, never the key. The last card on this page says what that means.
§7People, and who depends on you
Children: names, dates of birth and schools
Your wishes about guardianship, and whether they are in the will
Anyone who depends on you for care, and what a normal day looks like for them
Pets, their veterinarian, and who has agreed to take them
Who should be told, in the order you would want
Friends who appear in no official record
Attorney, accountant or financial advisor, and their firms
Employer, and anyone at work who should hear it directly
Clergy or a faith community, if that matters to you
No official record produces the list of who to tell. If you do not write it, it does not exist.
§8Health, care and your own decisions
Primary care doctor, and any specialist involved
Pharmacy, current medications and allergies
Any power of attorney for finances, and where the signed original is
Any health care proxy or medical power of attorney, and where it is
Any advance directive or living will, and where it is
Any do-not-resuscitate order, if you have one, and where it is
Your organ and tissue donation choice, and whether your family knows it
Care arrangements already in place, and who pays for them
Your preferences about hospice or long-term care, if you have written them
These papers matter while you are alive as much as afterwards. Someone who cannot find the signed original cannot show it.
§9The funeral, and the day itself
Burial or cremation, stated plainly
Any plot, plan or arrangement already paid for, and the papers for it
Where you would want it held, and who should lead it
Music, readings and flowers, or none of them
A photograph you would be content to have used
Who should be invited, and anyone who should not be
What should happen to the ashes, if that applies
Whether you want an obituary, and where
Whether you want military honors, if you served
Write the decision, not the reasoning. Families argue about cremation and music because nobody left a sentence saying which, and a sentence is all it takes.
§10Messages, and what the will cannot carry
Letters to particular people, sealed or open
Items promised to someone that the will does not name
Access to photo archives, journals or anything private
Anything you want destroyed unread: say so plainly, and say where it is
What should happen to this binder afterwards
Anything you would only ever say once, written down while you can
A will distributes an estate. It is a poor place for a sentence meant for one person, and most of what people want to leave behind is a sentence, not a share.
§11What to leave out
Passwords written out in full
PINs, full card numbers and the answers to security questions
Anything with no date on it: give the front page a date, and each page you change
Anything you would not want read aloud: put it in a sealed envelope addressed to one person, and note that it exists
The only copy of anything
A binder is meant to be found, which makes it the wrong place for anything that opens an account by itself. Write the route, not the key: where the password manager is, who holds the recovery method, which phone the codes arrive on.
