The "if something happens to me" file
The one document your family will need most, and that most people never write.
- Time
- One afternoon, then once a year
- You'll need
- A password manager with emergency access, or a sealed copy with your lawyer
- You'll end up with
- A secure file that tells your family what you have, where it is and who to call.
The steps
- 01
List what you have
Bank and investment accounts, retirement plans, insurance, property, debts, digital assets and important online accounts. Institutions and rough values, not passwords.
- 02
Say who to call
Your lawyer, accountant, financial adviser, insurance agent and the executor of your will, with contact details.
- 03
Explain how to get in
Where the will and other key documents are, how to reach the password manager through its emergency-access feature, and how to recover any digital assets.
- 04
Check the basics are current
Is there a will? Are beneficiaries on accounts and policies up to date after marriages, births or divorces? Is there a guardian named for young children? If not, that's the first call to a lawyer.
- 05
Review it every year
Put a date in the calendar. Update after any big life change.
What breaks
- Writing it and telling nobody it exists. Tell your executor where it is.
Keep it safe
- Don't write passwords or recovery phrases in the file itself; point to where they're securely kept.
- This isn't legal advice. Review your plan with a lawyer.
How you'll know it worked
- Someone you trust could find everything within a day.
Do it with Fam
The family intelligence layer.
Personal assistants, shared household orchestration and family-office functions, with parents firmly in charge.
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