A list of where everything is

Nobody's family is stopped by grief alone. They're stopped by not knowing which bank, which super fund, whether there was insurance, where the will is, what the password to the laptop was, and whether the car is paid off.

Every one of those is a phone call that turns into three weeks. Multiply it by fifteen and you have why people say the admin was worse than the funeral.

You already know all of it. Writing it down is the entire job.

You don't need documents. You need *where the documents are*.

The legal things

• Your will — and where the signed original is. A copy is not enough; the original is what's needed.
• Power of Attorney, Advance Care Directive, and who holds them
• Birth certificate, marriage or divorce papers, citizenship papers

Money

• Every bank you hold an account with. Not account numbers — just which banks.
• Every super fund, including old ones you stopped paying into
• Insurance: life, income protection, funeral, home, car, health — and whether any sits inside super
• Loans, mortgages, credit cards, buy-now-pay-later
• Shares, investments, crypto, and where they're held
• Your accountant or financial adviser, if you have one

The house and the day-to-day

• Electricity, gas, water, internet, phone
• Rates, body corporate, insurance on the property
• Anything on direct debit that will keep taking money after you die

The rest

• Your pets, and who has agreed to take them
• Any prepaid funeral or funeral bond, and with whom
• Memberships and subscriptions
• Where your digital life lives — there's a separate guide on that

Passwords. Not on this list. A document that names your banks and holds your passwords is the single most useful thing a burglar could find in your house. Password managers and digital legacy tools exist for that, and there's a guide.

Account numbers. Nobody needs them from you. The institution has them.

Anything that would hurt someone to read. This is a filing note, not a letter. If you want to leave a letter, leave a letter — separately.

Keeping it secret defeats the point. Tell at least two people it exists and where it is — usually whoever will be your executor and one other.

Some people keep it with the will at the solicitor's. Some keep a printed copy in a labelled folder at home and tell everyone which drawer. Some keep it in a password manager with emergency access set up.

The method matters far less than somebody knowing.

Update it when something big changes — a new account, a new fund, a move, a separation. Once a year is plenty otherwise. Put it near your birthday and forget about it the rest of the time.