Estate Planning – An Inventory – Where is Everything
September 2026
When you pass on, the last thing your family needs to worry about is tracking down all of your financial holdings and accounts. Where is everything? Take the time to fill out this document, print it out and ensure your family knows where you store it. You may consider keeping a copy with your Will.
When you make any changes to your financial holdings, update the document and make sure to keep everything up to date. Each year at tax time is a good time to do this.
There are two areas to consider – one is tracking your physical assets and liabilities, and the second is your online life – your digital inventory, which is much harder for anyone to find, if possible at all. Consider your online bank accounts, social media sites, web site pages, email accounts, loyalty points and so on. There are two documents attached, with instructions on each. The Appendix is not intended to be kept on your computer, or in your general filing. It is highly confidential because it contains passcodes, etc. that could result in serious and costly privacy breaches. If you have no safety deposit box or confidential storage location, you should discuss options, including non-disclosure of these items, with your legal counsel. Even if you do have a good location, a discussion with your lawyer about who should have access, when and how, should be part of the process in preparing your Will and Power of Attorney. Warning – the length of these documents may scare you – you do not know how much you have – and hence, the importance of letting your executor know how to find them.
The essential form needed by your Executor to locate your documents:
Where_is_Everything – an inventory for your Executor or POA Attorney_Fillable
The Appendix A with your secret passwords:
Where_is_Everything_Appendix_A_Confidential_Fillable
Blair Corkum, CPA, CA, R.F.P., CFP, CFDS, CLU, CHS holds his Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant, Registered Financial Planner, Chartered Financial Divorce Specialist as well as several other financial planning related designations. Blair offers hourly based fee-only personal financial planning, holds no investment or insurance licenses, and receives no commissions or referral fees. This publication should not be construed as legal or investment advice. It is neither a definitive analysis of the law nor a substitute for professional advice which you should obtain before acting on information in this article. Information may change as a result of legislation or regulations issued after this article was written.©Blair Corkum