What does my family need to know if I die?

Your family needs to know how to get into your phone, where your will and documents are, which accounts and auto-payments you hold, your insurance and benefits, who to call, and your funeral wishes.

What is the first thing family looks for when someone dies?

Usually the phone passcode, because almost every account now sends a sign-in code to the phone, and the will, because nothing can be settled without it.

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What my family needs to know when I die: 9 things they'll look for first

By the team at The Final File · Updated June 2026 · 6 min read

When you die, your family does not sit down to grieve. They start searching. Here are the nine things they hunt for first, and the place to write each one down before they ever have to ask.

In short: Your family needs to know how to get into your phone, where your will is, which accounts and bills you hold, your insurance and benefits, who to call, and what you wanted for your funeral. Write these nine things in one place and you spare them weeks of guessing.

1. How to get into your phone

This is the one that locks everything else. Almost every account now sends a one-time code to your phone before it lets anyone in. Without the passcode, even the right password fails. Your family needs to know where your phone passcode is kept, not on a sticky note, but in a safe place you point them to.

2. Where the will is

Nothing can be settled until the will is found. A drawer, a bank box, a lawyer's office, your family should not have to search three of them. Write down exactly where it lives and who holds a copy.

3. Who is in charge

Your executor is the person with the authority to act. Your family needs to know who you named, and that person needs to know they were named. If no one is named, a court appoints someone, and that costs time and money.

4. Which accounts and bills you hold

The mortgage, the utilities, the cards, and the subscriptions that auto-pay. Your family needs the full list so nothing bounces and nothing keeps draining a card no one is watching. This is also where forgotten accounts and small pensions surface.

5. Your insurance and benefits

Life insurance is often the fastest source of cash for a grieving family, but only if they know it exists. List your policies, the company, and where the documents are. Include benefits through work, a pension, or veterans benefits.

6. Where your important documents live

Birth and marriage certificates, property deeds, vehicle titles, tax returns, and the safe key. Again, location only. Your family needs the map, not the contents.

7. Your digital life

Years of photos, your email, and accounts that auto-renew often live only online. Your family needs to know where your password manager keys are kept, and which accounts to keep, memorialize, or close. Apple and Google both offer legacy tools you can set up in advance.

8. Who to call

Your lawyer, accountant, insurance agent, and the friends and groups who would want to know. A simple list saves your family from rebuilding your address book through tears.

9. What you wanted for your funeral

Burial or cremation, the kind of service, the music, and who takes the pets. Without your wishes written down, your family guesses, sometimes argues, and often overspends at the worst possible moment.

One place for all nine

The Final File gives every one of these a labeled page with blanks to fill in. Print it, work top to bottom, and your family never has to ask.

Get the planner $29

Common questions

How do I tell my family all this without scaring them?

You do not have to talk it through. Write it down in one place, then tell one person it exists and where it is kept. That single sentence is enough.

What if I do not have a will yet?

Start the organizer anyway. It captures everything a will does not, and it makes writing the will far easier when you do.