What an executor actually needs, and where to leave it

Executors are usually chosen for their character, then handed a job that is mostly administration. Almost none of the difficulty is legal. It is the months of finding out what existed: which bank, which pension, which small life policy from a job held in 1994.

The documents they need immediately

• The original signed will, and the name and number of the attorney who drafted it.
• Any trust documents, and who the trustee is.
• Death certificates — order more than you think, usually ten to fifteen.
• Birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decrees.
• Military discharge papers, which can unlock burial benefits.
• Social Security number, and details of any benefits being received.

The financial map

This is where the months go. An executor cannot close what they cannot find, and there is no central register of a person's accounts. Leave a list — institutions and account nicknames, not passwords.

• Every bank and credit union, with the last four digits of each account.
• Brokerage and retirement accounts, and who the named beneficiaries are.
• Pensions, including from long-past employers.
• Life insurance policies, including small ones through a union, employer or credit card.
• Mortgages, loans, credit cards and any outstanding debt.
• Property deeds, vehicle titles and any timeshare or land held elsewhere.
• Safe deposit boxes and where the keys are.
• Business interests, partnership agreements and buy-sell arrangements.

The people to notify

An executor spends the first two weeks on the phone. Make the call list for them: attorney, accountant, financial advisor, insurance agents, employer or HR, Social Security, pension administrators, and the handful of friends and relatives who should hear it from a person rather than a post.

The practical, unglamorous list

• Where the house keys, car keys and alarm codes are, and the alarm passphrase.
• Subscriptions and recurring payments to cancel.
• Who cares for the pets, and what they need.
• Funeral wishes, and whether anything is prepaid.
• Digital accounts: email, photo storage, and any legacy contact already nominated.

The will took an afternoon. Working out what he owned took eleven weeks, and I still think we missed something.

Where to leave it

Four rules. It must be findable without you. It must be readable by a stressed person who is not technical. It must be current, which means it has to be easy to update. And it must be private until it is needed — an executor should not be reading your financial life while you are alive and well.

That combination is why we built read-only, category-level access into MyVesta. You can grant your executor access to estate and legal records now, or simply record the location of everything and tell them the vault exists. Either way, the eleven weeks becomes an afternoon.

One letter, in plain language

Alongside the documents, write a short letter of instruction. It carries no legal force and it is often the most useful thing in the file: where things are, what you would want handled first, who to trust, and anything you would rather your family did not have to guess about.