How to build an 'if I die tomorrow' file for your family

A solicitor once described the weeks after an unexpected death as "a treasure hunt nobody wanted to go on". The family knew there was a will — somewhere. They knew there were investment accounts — at one of two banks, perhaps both. They found the mortgage statement eventually, tucked inside a car service manual in the garage. It took eleven months to close the estate.

The problem was not complexity. The problem was that no single document told the whole story in one place. What follows is a guide to building one that does.

What belongs in the file

Think in five categories. Work through them methodically rather than trying to recall everything at once.

Identity and legal documents. Your will, and the name and address of the solicitor who holds the original. Any lasting powers of attorney — property and financial affairs, and health and welfare — registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. Your passport and birth certificate. Marriage or civil partnership certificate. Decree absolute if applicable. If you have children, their birth certificates too. If you hold property abroad, note which jurisdiction governs it and who your local adviser is.

Financial accounts and assets. Bank accounts: institution, sort code, account number, and whether the account is sole or joint. Investment accounts and ISAs: platform name, account reference, approximate value as of a recent date. Pension arrangements: provider name, policy number, whether there is a nominated beneficiary form lodged (and when it was last updated). Life insurance policies, with the policy number and the insurer's claims contact. Property: address, title number at HM Land Registry, outstanding mortgage lender and reference. Any shareholdings in private companies — note the company name and your registered agent or accountant.

Liabilities. Mortgage balances and monthly payments. Any personal loans or credit facilities. Director's guarantees if you own a business. A family that doesn't know about a personal guarantee on a company overdraft can find itself in a very difficult position.

Digital and practical access. This is where most files fall short. Your family needs to know how to get in. Write down the email addresses associated with your financial accounts. Note where your password manager is, and how to unlock it — not the passwords themselves scattered across a page, but a single instruction for reaching them. Include the location of physical keys: safety deposit box, filing cabinet, safe at home or office. If you use a solicitor's storage facility or a private vault service, include the reference and contact details.

Wishes and instructions. A will deals with legal distribution of assets. This section deals with everything the will does not: funeral preferences, whether you want to be buried or cremated, any religious or cultural considerations, the name of a funeral director you have already spoken to if relevant. Note whether you have made an advance decision (sometimes called a living will) about medical treatment, and where it is held. If you have minor children, note your thinking on guardianship even if it duplicates what the will says — a letter of wishes sitting alongside the will is far easier for a grieving family to find and act on than a formal legal document alone.

Add a contacts page at the end: your solicitor, your accountant, your IFA, your executor, and anyone else who holds a piece of the picture. Include direct telephone numbers, not just firm names.

Keeping it findable and current

A document that exists but cannot be located is nearly as useless as one that was never written. Store one physical copy somewhere your executor or next of kin can reach without your help — with your solicitor, in a fireproof cabinet at home whose location you have disclosed, or in a secure vault service. Store a second copy digitally in a place with controlled, verified access.

The annual review matters as much as the initial assembly. Account numbers change. Policies lapse. A pension pot you transferred three years ago is sitting with a new provider. Set a reminder — the same date each year, perhaps around your birthday — to check each section against your current reality.

One practical caution: do not include passwords in a document that is stored in an insecure location or shared more widely than necessary. The point of the digital access section is to give your family a route to your accounts through your password manager or your solicitor's process, not to leave credentials exposed. There is a meaningful difference between a document that is accessible and one that is unprotected.

The file does not need to be long. A thorough version, covering a family with property, pensions, and a small portfolio, might run to eight or ten pages. What it needs to be is honest, current, and findable by the people who will need it most, at the worst possible moment.

Glenvault is designed to hold exactly this kind of file — structured, access-controlled, and ready when it matters. You can begin at glenvault.com/signup.