The 12 Things Your Family Will Go Looking For.

1. Phone and laptop passcodes

Without this code, everything else digital stays locked.

Many families face a locked smartphone right after a death, with photos, banking apps and messages trapped inside. Manufacturers rarely help without a court order.

2. Email access

Your inbox is the master key to almost every other account.

Nearly every "forgot password" flow routes back to email. Without access to it, families have to prove their case to each provider one by one.

3. Password manager master password

A single password can unlock hundreds of accounts — or lock them away forever.

Password managers are built to be unbreakable, which also means there is no way back without the master password or an emergency-access feature. Tools like 1Password and Bitwarden now build these in specifically for this reason.

4. 2FA recovery codes

Two-factor protection locks out your own family too, if no one has the codes.

Losing a second device is enough to make an account unreachable, even with the right password. Recovery codes are often the only fallback a provider offers at all.

5. Location of the original will

Only the original counts in court — a copy usually isn't enough.

A will sitting in a drawer helps no one if nobody knows it exists. Many probate courts explicitly require the original document, not a copy.

6. Bank accounts and brokerage

Families first need to know where money even is before they can deal with it.

Accounts often stay frozen for days without the right documentation, while bills keep coming due. A simple list of banks and brokerages shortens that gap significantly.

7. Insurance policies (especially term life)

Payouts can be delayed for months if no one knows a policy exists.

A term life policy only pays out if your family knows it's there and can file a claim. Without a policy number and insurer name, payouts can take months longer than they need to.

8. Active subscriptions and contracts

Uncancelled contracts just keep running — and keep costing money.

Streaming services, phone plans and memberships keep charging automatically until someone actively cancels them. A written overview saves families weeks of digging through old statements.

9. Crypto seed phrases and wallet location

Without the seed phrase, crypto assets are gone for good — there's no customer support line.

Unlike a bank, there's no one to call to reset access to a wallet. Estimates suggest millions of bitcoin are already permanently inaccessible because keys were lost.

10. Business accounts and standalone powers of attorney

A business can grind to a halt if no one else is authorized to sign.

Without a power of attorney on file, a business account can be completely frozen while payroll and invoices keep coming due. A standalone power of attorney for a trusted person bridges exactly that gap.

11. Funeral and organ donation wishes

Your family would rather honor your wishes than have to guess them under pressure.

Burial type, location and organ donation are decisions often made under time pressure during grief. Writing your wishes down removes the hardest uncertainty for the people you leave behind.

12. Who should be told first

A clear order prevents chaos and painful, repeated phone calls.

In the first hours after a death, families often don't know who to call first. A simple list of names and numbers is enough to take that weight off their shoulders.