A bit morbid, but what’s in your “Death folder”?

[ChaChaChaChanges]

I’m putting together a folder so that in the (hopefully very unlikely) event of my sudden death, my relatives have all the information they need readily available. Here’s what I have so far:

• my will
• details of my bank accounts - current and savings
• details of my investment account
• my pension details
• my employment details, which includes life insurance
• all of the utilities - electric, water, gas, phone
• my mobile contract details
• my home (as opposed to work) email and social media accounts. Not sure whether to include passwords, just in case?
• insurance contracts (buildings, contents, car, pet)

What am I missing?

Thank you!

@Trumpton What fireproof/waterproof envelope are you using please?

Sorry if anyone has said this but if you have any items that are of particular value emotionally or financially, you might want to leave details so that those things aren’t overlooked.

It was this one. It’s plenty big enough.

Added to the above, my DSis recently died completely unexpectedly in her early 50s.

The main thing that we were/are missing is her mobile phone pin. That would have given access to her contacts and her emails, both of which would have been really useful. Not having access to her phone made tracing people to let them know a lot harder than it could have been.

And remember that if you get married or divorced, your will becomes invalid and has to be re-done. DSis did not do this even though she went on to marry her sole beneficiary, so officially died intestate which made things more complicated.

F

You do need paper copies of birth certificate, marriage certificate and death certificate.
My DH died recently and the majority of companies want to see an original or a certified copy of documents. I think only two allowed them to be emailed.
I wish that DH had told me what he wanted for his funeral. I’m certain he wouldn’t have cared whatever I did, but you have to arrange a funeral when you’re not really thinking straight and I found it hard to think of his favourite hymns, or songs he would have liked to have been played. It was so hard making all those decisions, a list of suggestions would have made it easier.

Make sure on your pensions that you have put a nominated beneficiary.
A minor thing, but on Facebook you can name a person who can look after your account after you have died. They can choose to memorialise it or delete it.

Another thing that's not necessarily to do with a "death book" but in the same vein.

If you pay your utilities, rates, insurance direct debits etc from a sole account, when the bank is informed of your death, your bank account is stopped and all direct debits are cancelled. The last thing a grieving husband/ wife/ partner wants to do is set up new direct debits/ contact utility companies/ deal with reference numbers etc.
If possible, add someone to your bank account, either partner or child or friend, whatever. Then if anything happens to you, there is less urgency to sort out payments etc and less letters or emails needing urgent replies to when the payments aren't being made.

What a great idea, OP.

Finally! It's taken a good few weeks but I've written everything down for both me and dh, only thing left is to write down the marriage certificate number when I get the copy as I still can't find the original..
Children know where the book is, I've told them the safe combination and where the emergency keys are so I'm as prepared as I can be.

My children are really grateful, they think it's a fab idea.

You need a coding system if you are writing down passwords/pins etc because if you have a break in and the folder gets stolen you have a big problem.

Also following along. I'm also wondering - there's a lot of information in this and I'm wondering how people keep this secure? Friends of ours were broken into recently and it was only important documents that were taken so its made me wary now!

Your NI number, birth cert, place of birth, marriage cert and occupation were info we were asked by registrar when mum died.

There is a number you call where they inform most of the important services.

Also handy to include Dr surgery if you are on prescription medication so these can be returned and any other medical equipment.

Rent or mortgage providers .

We also had to sort bank accounts and utilities. Dont close bank accounts until after the funeral if the money in them is needed for the funeral.

Mine includes most of the above plus some health history for the DC, as I know DH won't remember dates that they might want to refer to in future. Also details of car insurance, etc.

I've taken a tip from here to add location of birth/marriage certificates.

Mum didn't leave a plan for her funeral which was both hard but also allowed us to arrange it in a way that we found meaningful to us (immediate family). There are pro and con to overdetailing a funeral I think.

I've got a safe hidden in a cupboard. I reason that if a burglar broke in, they'd take the obvious stuff like car keys and money lying around. It's a right bugger to get to the safe, so hopefully that'll do.

A useful thread! I've been thinking about doing mine, particularly as I am over 60 and have breast cancer, so I'd better get a move on 😁.

I was thinking:
Will
List of minor bequests not in my will
Funeral arrangements/wishes
Life insurance details
Bank details
List of people I want notified with phone numbers/email addresses
Instructions for what to do when I die, death certificate/registrar/inform council/electric company/water company etc etc etc. I know my husband will be devastated and will need to be told what to do.
Pension details
Who to contact at my work if I die in service
Share certificates
Facebook/Amazon/email passwords
maybe download documents for probate and get them started? Inheritance tax etc.? I won't have over £325k to leave so it will be simple

I haven't RTFL yet but I'm sure there are lots of other things I can get from all the other threads

Need to do one!

The fact that my dead body needs to go to a women's funeral director/crematorium. Too many creepy men with fetishes. We really don't know what is going on half the time.