What Would My Family Need to Know If Something Happened to Me?
If Something Happens to Me
Your family would need four things in the first confusing days: who to call, where things are, what they would need to access, and what you want done first. This is a single page that answers all four. It is not a will and it is not legal advice, just the practical information people search for when nobody can ask you.
Why does one page matter so much?
Because the first few days are the worst possible time to go looking. The people sorting it out are grieving, often travelling, and working from guesses about accounts they have never seen and advisors they have never met.
Almost everything they need is knowable. It is just not written down anywhere, and the one person who knows it is the person they cannot ask.
This does not have to cover everything. It just has to get them through the first few days without guessing.
How to use this
- Keep it somewhere your family can actually find it, not just somewhere safe.
- Tell at least one person where it is.
- Revisit it once a year. A stale page is almost as good as no page.
If Something Happens to Me is also a free printable page, laid out with room to fill in every line. Nothing to sign up for.
Download the free guide (PDF)Who to call
The people who already know your situation, so your family is not explaining it from scratch.
- Financial advisor
- Attorney
- Accountant or tax preparer
- Insurance agent
Where things are
- Will and other estate documents
- Life insurance policies
- Bank and investment accounts
- Safe deposit box or home safe
What they would need to know
- Password manager, or how to access accounts
- Outstanding debts or loans
- Recurring bills that need attention
- Anyone who depends on you financially
What you want them to do first
This is the part people skip, and it is often the part that matters most in the first 48 hours.
- Who should they call first, before anyone else
- Anything urgent needing immediate attention, such as a business, dependents, or pets
- Anything you want handled a specific way
Once you have filled this in
Make updating it a habit rather than a one-time task.
While you are looking at accounts, The Beneficiary Check-In is worth the same five minutes: a beneficiary designation overrides your will, and an out-of-date one undoes a lot of careful planning quietly.
If this mattered to you
This page covers the practical logistics. The Legacy Vault covers what a page like this cannot: your voice, your values, and the things you would actually want to say. The two work well together, and most families want both eventually.
If you would like to start with the saying-it part, The First Chapter is one guided conversation, recorded and kept.
Quick answers
- Is this a will?
- No, and it carries no legal force. A will says who receives what. This page says where things are and who to call, which is what a family actually needs in the first few days, long before any will is read.
- What if I cannot fill all of it in?
- Fill in what you can today. An incomplete page still beats no page by a wide margin, and the blanks show you what is worth sorting out next.
- Where should I keep it?
- Somewhere your family can actually find it, not just somewhere safe. A locked box nobody knows about is the same as nothing. Tell at least one person where it is.
- How often should I update it?
- Once a year, and any time something changes. A job change, a new account, or a new advisor is a good reminder. A stale page is almost as good as no page.