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

A solicitor once described the weeks after an unexpected death as "an archaeological dig through someone's life." The family knows roughly what exists: a pension somewhere, a will drafted years ago, a life insurance policy with a provider whose name no one can quite remember. What they do not have is a map. The result is weeks of phone calls, duplicate paperwork, and decisions made under grief with incomplete information.

The antidote is simple in concept and moderately effortful in practice. It is a single, findable file, physical or digital or both, that contains everything a trusted person would need to act on your behalf. Some people call it a "death file." Others prefer "family emergency file" or simply "the folder." The name matters less than the habit of building it and keeping it current.

What follows is a practical framework. It is not a substitute for professional advice on wills, trusts or tax; those deserve their own conversations with a solicitor and an accountant. This is about the supporting paperwork that makes those professional documents useful when they are needed most.

What belongs in the file

Start with identity and legal documents. These are the foundation from which everything else flows: your passport, birth certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate, decree absolute if applicable, and National Insurance number. If you have children, their birth certificates belong here too. A certified copy of your current will, with the name and contact details of the solicitor who holds the original, should sit at the front.

Next, cover legal authority. If your will becomes relevant, someone needs to apply for probate. But if you lose mental capacity before you die, a different document governs: your Lasting Power of Attorney. England and Wales recognise two kinds, one for property and financial affairs, one for health and welfare. If you have registered LPAs with the Office of the Public Guardian, include copies here and note where the originals are held. If you have not made LPAs and you are reading this, that is the most urgent task on your list.

Financial accounts require their own section. List every current account, savings account, investment account and pension, with the provider name, account or policy number, and the contact number or address. You do not need to include balances, and you should not include online passwords in a document that others might access prematurely. What you need is enough for someone to identify and contact every institution. Include your National Savings and Premium Bonds registration if you hold them, your HMRC Self Assessment reference if you are self-employed, and any property you own with its title number from the Land Registry.

Life insurance and protection policies deserve particular attention. Many go unclaimed simply because families did not know they existed. List every policy: the insurer, the policy number, the sum assured, and whether it is written in trust. A policy written in trust passes outside your estate and does not require probate; your executor needs to know this distinction.

Include a contacts page. Your solicitor, your accountant, your financial adviser, your executor by name, and the person named in your LPA. If you have a family office, private banker or trust company, list them. If there is a family WhatsApp group that would be the first place news spreads, note who administers it.

Finally, and this is the section people most often avoid, write a page of wishes. Not legal instructions, simply preferences. Where you would want to be buried or whether you prefer cremation. Whether there are funeral readings or music that matter to you. Which belongings carry sentimental weight and who you hope might receive them. This is not your will. It is a letter to the people who love you, written when you are calm and clear-headed, to spare them from guessing.

Keeping it findable and current

A file that exists but cannot be found is nearly as useless as no file at all. If you keep a physical folder, tell at least two trusted people where it lives. If you store it digitally, consider how those people will access it after you are gone without knowing your device password. The answer is not to write your master password on a Post-it note; it is to use a structured system designed for exactly this purpose, where access can be granted formally to the right people at the right time.

Review the file once a year. A useful prompt is the anniversary of your will, or the start of the tax year. Accounts change, providers merge, policies lapse and new ones begin. A file that was accurate in 2021 may be quietly misleading in 2025.

The act of building this file is, at its core, an act of care. It costs you a few hours. It saves your family months of confusion during the worst period of their lives. That seems like a reasonable exchange.

Glenvault is designed to hold exactly this kind of file, with structured access for the people you choose, at glenvault.com/signup.