All guides

Affairs and endings

Somebody would need to find all of it, and nobody could.

“If something happened to me tomorrow, nobody would know where the will is, which pension is with whom, or who to call first. I keep meaning to sort it out.”

12 guides · 29 minutes of reading

  1. 01What to do when a parent dies: a clear order for the first two weeksThe practical steps in the order they actually need doing, written for somebody who is grieving and cannot hold a list in their head.4 min read
  2. 02What to do when a parent dies in the UK: the first two weeksRegistering the death, ordering certificates and telling the right people, in the order they need doing, for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.4 min read
  3. 03How to find someone's bank accounts, pensions and policies after they dieA practical search order for tracing accounts, pensions, insurance and subscriptions when nobody wrote any of it down.2 min read
  4. 04Where to look for a will when you cannot find oneA search order for finding a will, what to do if there genuinely is not one, and why the executor matters before anything else.2 min read
  5. 05You have been named executor. Here is what you actually agreed toWhat the role involves, how long it really takes, what you are personally liable for, and whether you can say no.3 min read
  6. 06Named as executor in the UK: what you actually agreed toWhat the role involves, how long it really takes, what you are personally liable for, and whether you can say no.2 min read
  7. 07The "if something happens to me" file, and what goes in itWhat to leave behind so nobody has to reconstruct your life from the outside, and why it is not the same thing as a will.2 min read
  8. 08Your beneficiary forms quietly override your willPensions and life insurance usually pass by nomination, not by will. The form you filled in on your first day at an old job may still decide who gets it.2 min read
  9. 09What to write down in case something happens to youNot a will, and not morbid. The short list of things that only exist in your head, and what happens when nobody can find them.2 min read
  10. 10Digital accounts after a death: what can and cannot be recoveredPhotos, email, subscriptions and social accounts. What providers will actually release, what they will not, and what to set up now.2 min read
  11. 11Which documents to keep, which to shred, and where the rest should liveA retention guide for household paperwork, and a filing approach that survives contact with real life.2 min read
  12. 12How to talk to your parents about their affairs without it going badlyThe conversation almost everybody postpones. What to open with, what not to ask for, and how to make it about logistics rather than mortality.2 min read