Your Estate at a Glance: The Printable Inventory Checklist

1 · The people to call

People your family may need to call. Name each person and how to reach them.

• ☐ Executor / personal representative named in the will
• ☐ Successor trustee (if you have a living trust)
• ☐ Estate-planning or probate attorney
• ☐ Financial advisor
• ☐ Accountant / tax preparer
• ☐ Insurance agent
• ☐ Agent under your financial power of attorney
• ☐ Health-care agent (health-care proxy / medical POA)

2 · Where the documents are

Note the location of each — a drawer, a safe, a lawyer's office, a file.

• ☐ Last will and testament (original, signed)
• ☐ Living trust and any amendments
• ☐ Financial power of attorney
• ☐ Health-care directive / living will / proxy
• ☐ Deeds to real estate
• ☐ Vehicle / boat titles
• ☐ Birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decree
• ☐ Military discharge (DD-214) — needed for VA and burial benefits
• ☐ Social Security card
• ☐ Prior-year tax returns
• ☐ Safe-deposit box location and key (and who is authorized)

3 · Financial accounts

List the institution and account type — NOT full account numbers (see the security note above).

• ☐ Checking and savings accounts (bank / credit union)
• ☐ Brokerage / investment accounts
• ☐ Retirement accounts — 401(k), 403(b), IRA, Roth IRA
• ☐ Pension or profit-sharing plans
• ☐ Health savings account (HSA)
• ☐ 529 college-savings plans
• ☐ Cash-value life insurance
• ☐ Crypto / digital-asset accounts (and where the keys live)

4 · Income & benefits

The checks that arrive — some stop at death, some transfer to a survivor.

• ☐ Social Security (retirement or survivor benefits)
• ☐ Employer or government pension
• ☐ VA benefits — disability, DIC, or Survivors Pension
• ☐ Annuity payments
• ☐ Rental or royalty income

5 · Property & vehicles

• ☐ Primary residence — address and how title is held
• ☐ Other real estate (second home, land, timeshare)
• ☐ Vehicles, boats, RVs
• ☐ Valuables — jewelry, art, collections (and any appraisals)
• ☐ Storage units

6 · Insurance

Carrier and policy type; note the current beneficiary, since that controls who receives the payout.

• ☐ Term or whole life insurance
• ☐ Employer / group life insurance
• ☐ Long-term-care insurance
• ☐ Health insurance / Medicare / Medigap
• ☐ Homeowners and auto insurance
• ☐ Umbrella / liability policy

7 · Debts & recurring bills

What must keep being paid — and what stops.

• ☐ Mortgage(s) and home-equity lines
• ☐ Vehicle loans / leases
• ☐ Credit cards
• ☐ Personal or student loans
• ☐ Utilities, phone, internet
• ☐ Subscriptions and memberships to cancel

8 · Digital life

An easily overlooked category. Note WHERE access lives, not the passwords themselves.

• ☐ Password manager (the master key — tell a trusted person how to reach it)
• ☐ Primary email account(s)
• ☐ Phone and computer unlock method
• ☐ Cloud storage and photo libraries
• ☐ Social-media and online accounts
• ☐ Domain names, websites, or online businesses
• ☐ Loyalty / airline-mile programs

9 · Final wishes

What you want — so no one has to guess.

• ☐ Burial or cremation preference
• ☐ Funeral / memorial preferences; any prepaid plan and where it's held
• ☐ Cemetery plot or veterans-cemetery eligibility
• ☐ Organ / body donation wishes
• ☐ People and organizations to notify
• ☐ A letter of instruction (anything that isn't in the will)