End of Life Planner Template: What to Include and How to Organize It

Why a Planner Matters More Than You Think

When someone dies without leaving any organized record of their financial accounts, legal documents, passwords, and wishes, the family is left on a scavenger hunt. They are opening drawers, scanning email inboxes, calling banks without account numbers, and guessing at PINs — all while grieving.

An end-of-life planner eliminates that chaos. It is a single, organized location where everything your executor and family will need is documented, referenced, or physically stored.

You do not need fancy software or a paid service. A three-ring binder with labeled dividers, stored in a known location and shared with one trusted person, does the job.

What the Planner Should Contain

Section 1: Personal Information

• Full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number
• Citizenship, passport number, and location of the physical passport
• Military service status and DD-214 location (if applicable)
• Organ donor status and registration details

Section 2: Legal Documents

• Location of the original will (the probate court may require it; check local rules if only a copy is available)
• Trust documents, if any
• Durable power of attorney for finances
• Healthcare power of attorney / healthcare proxy
• Advance directive or living will
• Name and contact information of the attorney who prepared these documents

Section 3: Financial Accounts

Create a table with one row per account:

Include checking, savings, CDs, money market, investment/brokerage, retirement (401k, IRA, Roth), pension, life insurance, and annuities. Note whether each account has a named beneficiary or a transfer-on-death designation — these assets bypass probate entirely.

Section 4: Property and Assets

• Real estate: addresses, deed locations, mortgage details, co-owner information
• Vehicles: make, model, VIN, title location, loan details
• Safe deposit box: bank branch, box number, key location, who has access
• Valuables: jewelry, art, collectibles — consider a basic inventory with photographs
• Business interests: operating agreements, partner contacts, succession plans

Section 5: Debts and Liabilities

• Mortgages, car loans, student loans, personal loans
• Credit cards with approximate balances
• Any co-signed obligations
• Outstanding tax obligations or payment plans

Section 6: Digital Accounts

• Email accounts and recovery methods
• Online banking login information (or a password manager master reference)
• Social media accounts and legacy contact settings
• Cloud storage: photos, documents, crypto wallets
• Subscription services that need canceling

Section 7: Wishes and Preferences

• Funeral or memorial preferences: burial, cremation, green burial, specific venue
• Religious or cultural requirements
• Music, readings, or speakers requested
• Obituary draft or notes for the writer
• Charitable organizations for memorial donations
• Preferences for personal property distribution — who gets the china, the tools, the letters

Section 8: Contacts

• Primary physician
• Attorney
• Financial advisor
• Accountant or CPA
• Insurance agent
• Clergy or spiritual advisor
• Close friends to notify

Where to Store It

The planner is useless if nobody can find it. Store the physical binder in a location your executor knows — a home safe, a filing cabinet, a specific shelf. Do not store it only in a safe deposit box if your executor may not have access; access can be delayed while the institution verifies who is authorized.

Tell at least two people where it is: your executor and one backup. A brief conversation — "The binder is in the top of the hall closet. Everything you will need is in there." — is the single most useful thing you can do for the person who will manage your estate.

Keeping It Current

An outdated planner is almost as bad as no planner. Review it once a year — birthday, New Year's, or tax season are natural triggers. Update it whenever you open or close a financial account, change a beneficiary designation, move, or update legal documents.

From Planning to Action

If you are creating this planner for yourself, you are ahead of most people. If you are searching for a template because someone has already died and you are trying to organize the chaos they left behind, the Family Estate Meeting toolkit includes an estate document tracker and settlement checklist designed for exactly this situation — it helps the executor organize what exists, identify what is missing, and track every account and deadline through the full probate timeline.