Planning guide · By AfterLifeNote
End-of-life planning checklist: what to prepare for your family
End-of-life planning means making your care wishes, important documents and everyday accounts easier for the right people to find. You do not need to finish everything today, and you do not need to wait until later in life to start.
Published
Start with three things
Name one trusted person, note where your important documents live, and list your recurring charges. Then work through the checklist below at your own pace.
Your people
One trusted contact
Your paperwork
Important document locations
Your everyday accounts
A list of recurring charges
This is an organisational guide, not legal, medical or financial advice. Document requirements and decision-making authority vary by location. A vault or binder does not replace a valid will, advance directive or professional advice.
1. Name the people who will help
Write down a main contact, a backup, and the professionals who know your affairs: your lawyer, accountant, insurance adviser and healthcare team. Include a phone number and a short note explaining each person’s role. Talk to the people you name rather than assuming they are willing or able to help.
Next step: Start with one person. Tell them where your planning file is and how to find it in an emergency.
2. Locate your legal documents
Make an index of your will, any trust documents, financial power of attorney and healthcare decision-making documents. Record who holds the originals, where they are stored and the date of the latest version. Include identity documents and relevant marriage or divorce records. An organised list helps someone find the paperwork; it does not make that paperwork legally valid.
Next step: If documents are missing or outdated, ask a qualified professional in your jurisdiction which forms and signing requirements apply. A will, a financial power of attorney and a healthcare directive serve different purposes.
3. Discuss your care wishes
Advance care planning is about the care you would want if you could not speak for yourself. Discuss your values and treatment preferences with your clinician and the person you would want to make healthcare decisions. Depending on where you live, an advance directive may include a living will and a healthcare proxy or healthcare power of attorney.
Next step: Keep a current medication list, key conditions and your clinician’s contact details with your care documents. Make sure the appropriate people have access to the latest version.
4. List money, insurance and debts
Inventory bank accounts, retirement accounts, investments, life insurance, employer benefits, property, mortgages and other debts. For each, record the institution, account or policy reference, contact details and where supporting documents are kept. Note joint ownership and any named beneficiaries so there is a clear starting point for checking the provider’s records.
Next step: Review beneficiary details with each provider after major life changes. Ask a qualified adviser how beneficiary designations and ownership interact with your estate plan; do not assume your will overrides them.
5. Make a recurring-charge register
Look through recent bank and card statements, plus older statements for annual renewals. List streaming services, mobile plans, cloud storage, memberships, utilities, insurance premiums and software subscriptions. Record the provider, amount, billing cycle, account reference and the provider’s current notification or cancellation process.
Next step: Separate “review before closing” from “likely to cancel.” Your family may still need home insurance, utilities, a shared phone plan or access to an email account. Do not cancel a policy or essential service without checking the consequences and the authority required.
6. Leave digital-access instructions, not passwords
List important email addresses, devices, online storage, social accounts, domains and the password manager you use. Explain where recovery instructions are held securely. Where available, review the provider’s legacy-contact, inactive-account or emergency-access settings and tell your chosen person what you have configured.
Next step: Do not put passwords, PINs, security answers or full card numbers in your planning file. Being a trusted contact is not the same as having legal authority to sign in or close an account; providers have their own requirements.
7. Write down personal and household wishes
Record funeral or memorial preferences, any arrangements already paid for, and the contact details of the provider. Add practical instructions for pets, dependants, keys and household responsibilities. You can also leave personal letters or notes about meaningful possessions, keeping those wishes distinct from legally binding documents.
Next step: Put time-sensitive instructions where someone can find them promptly. Discuss care arrangements with the people involved; a note alone does not appoint a legal guardian.
8. Store it safely and keep it current
Bring the index, account register, document locations and contact list together in a secure paper binder or private digital record. Agree on an access plan with the right people, without broadly sharing sensitive details. Date your entries, keep the current version clear, and set yourself a regular review reminder.
Next step: Revisit the file after a move, relationship change, new account or policy, or a change in the people you have chosen to help. Check that your contact can still find the file without relying only on your phone.
A planning checklist or an emergency binder?
The checklist helps you make decisions and identify gaps. The binder is where you organise the resulting records so someone can find them. You can use both: make the decisions first, then create a clear index and a practical account register.
Read the family emergency binder guideCan your family cancel everything at once?
Not safely. Different providers require different evidence and some services may need to stay active. AfterLifeNote helps you record accounts and cancellation instructions, attach documents, and prepare cancellation requests for review. A queued request is not proof that the provider has received it or stopped billing. Keep confirmation details and check the final charges.
Further reading
For the legal-document and care-planning foundations, see the US National Institute on Aging’s guidance. If you live elsewhere, use your local health authority and a qualified local adviser for the applicable requirements.