What is an ‘in case of death’ folder?
An in case of death folder is a safe place to keep your most important personal, financial and digital documents, alongside your final wishes.
It is a way to plan ahead and make things easier for loved ones at the end of your life, by telling them what you want and giving them a practical checklist of the steps they should take.
Whether you use a physical binder, a digital file or a combination of both, it means people close to you won’t be left looking for important documents in lots of different places while grieving.
How planning ahead brings peace of mind
Planning ahead with tools like an in case of death folder can cover a lot of different needs.
As well as removing paperwork and administration from loved ones, allowing them space to support each other and grieve, the practical benefits go even further. Having everything in one place can lead to a smoother handling of your estate and wishes for your executors and funeral director. It also makes it quicker and less stressful for people to use government services like Tell Us Once.
According to a 2024 YouGov poll for Compassion in Dying, which runs an end of life helpline, 95% of people who planned ahead using that service said it gave them peace of mind. That’s alongside the financial benefits that come from people not having to guess what their loved one wanted from a funeral.
Below, we explain the main areas you can consider, with a checklist of the common things people record about each.
Essential documents for the early days
- Who to contact: your GP, hospital team or care home
- Your National Insurance number
- Details of where to find identification like your passport and driving licence
These help answer the questions people can be asked first when they lose someone close to them.
Contacting a GP, hospital team or care home early on is important because they can take care of the medical certificate and registration process for your loved ones.
Your National Insurance number helps some organisations find records faster. It is also sometimes needed for the UK Government’s Tell Us Once service: one of the best ways to reduce paperwork and save time and energy after a bereavement. Forms of identification like your passport can similarly help speed up these processes.
Important legal and estate papers
- Your will’s location
- Details of your executors
- Contact details for any solicitor or legal adviser helping with estate planning
When pointing people to your will, you should explain where its original copy is kept. This is often at home or with a solicitor. If you have executors, naming them here also means that no matter who uses your in case of death folder, they can involve your executor early. It is important to know that if you have a Lasting Power of Attorney, this automatically ends at the point of death and executors take over.
Details of a solicitor or legal adviser will also help loved ones to understand what happens with your estate. This can affect financial decisions after a bereavement, so the more detail available the better.
Funeral wishes and pre-paid plans
- Details of your funeral plan
- Faith-based requirements
- Personal preferences
If you have a pre-paid funeral plan, loved ones won’t need to find a funeral director. One call to the funeral director named on your plan is all it takes to put it into action, and they will then have that funeral director to support them through the process.
Pre-paid funeral plan information your family should give to the funeral director should include:
- The funeral plan number
- What the plan covers
- Relevant contact details
Your funeral plan might cover all your funeral requirements and preferences. Some main wishes to include in your pre-paid funeral plan are:
1. Whether you want a burial or cremation.
- This affects both funeral costs and timing.
- In England and Wales, cremation can usually take place once the death has been registered and the required paperwork has been completed.
- The timing can still depend on a medical examiner or coroner if one is needed, crematorium availability and how things work in your local area.
- Your local, independent Golden Charter funeral director partner can help you understand how things work where you live.
2. Any faith based customs.
- These can also be important in deciding timing or what is expected.
- You can also note down any specific readings, music choices or preferences for who leads the service.
3. Any ecologically friendly preferences you have.
- These are choices that can affect the funeral, for example if you want a woodland burial or a wicker coffin.
Financial details and insurance policies
- Bank account details
- Pensions
- Insurance policies
- Debts, including mortgages
Dealing with your estate means being aware of your finances. To help, create a simple list of all your current accounts, savings and ISAs. These can just cover bank names, account numbers and sort codes.
Most joint accounts simply pass their balance to the surviving account holder, but even in these cases banks will usually need to see a death certificate. Each bank’s policies will vary, and they may put some restrictions on accounts while they verify and update the details.
For pensions, you might have more than one, so be careful to note down any workplace or personal pensions as well as any ongoing investments.
You should list all active insurance policies, but particularly focus on any life insurance, critical illness cover and home insurance. These might be important to making arrangements shortly after your death.
Finally, you can outline any outstanding debts. This should include mortgages, credit card debts and car loans.
Digital legacy and online assets
- Important online accounts like email and social media
- Details of any digital assets like crypto-tokens
Loved ones don’t always know what’s best to do with online accounts, which can lead to them being untouched for a long time. An in case of death folder is a good place to record all of your important accounts – whether that’s email, social media or cloud storage where family photos are stored.
As well as recording your accounts, it’s worth leaving instructions on whether you want them to be deleted or ‘memorialised’. Some online platforms offer this as a way to close an account without losing its history.
Online platforms also often have ways of letting bereaved people access accounts legally. Where a password is needed, while it is tempting to just write down all your login details, it's much safer to look into a password manager with a legacy contact option.
A newer question is what to do with digital assets, like cryptocurrency. Some of the rules around this are quite new.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a law from 2025 makes it clear that some digital assets, like crypto-tokens, can be recognised as personal property. This could make it easier to deal with them as a normal part of a person’s assets, but questions like ownership records and access rules by the platform they’re stored on mean it’s hard to have a one size fits all rule. The 2025 law also does not extend to Scotland. What you do will depend on the kind of asset you have.
Household admin and regular subscriptions
- Utility providers
- Subscriptions to be cancelled
- Vehicle insurance and documents
- Vet details for pets
- Important utilities to keep a note of include gas, electricity and water where needed, as well as your local council tax details. In Scotland, the council tax details also cover water.
Subscriptions that might need to be cancelled include broadband internet, mobile phones, and streaming services like Netflix and Spotify.
When it comes to vehicles, car insurance details is important to cover, and so is the location of your V5C logbook.
If you have pets, this is also a natural place to add clear instructions about your wishes. You should include details of their vet and their pet insurance.
How to store and share your folder safely
If your in case of death folder is a physical document or binder, it’s worth thinking about a secure place where you can keep it. A fireproof lockbox or a safe might provide more peace of mind than a standard desk drawer – and could be easier for people to remember.
If you are using a digital folder, think about how it is encrypted and protected. There are digital vault options online that can back up and store your folder in an appropriately safe place.
Safety and security are important, and so is telling the right people in the right way. You should tell at least two trusted family members or friends, or your executor. Let them know exactly where the folder is kept and how they can access it.
Remember, a lot of the details you keep will probably change over time. Make it a habit to review and update your folder once a year – or after any big life events – so that you know the information is always current.
A full ‘in case of death’ checklist
You can use the list below to help ensure you cover the most important parts of all of the areas above.
- Details of your GP, hospital team or care home
- Your National Insurance number
- Where to find identification like your passport and driving licence
- Your funeral plan details
- Your will’s location
- Your executors
- Your solicitor or any legal adviser helping with estate planning
- Financial information, including your bank account and insurance details
- Any digital legacy and assets
- Household service providers
Learn more about funeral planning
A pre-paid funeral plan has a number of benefits for planning ahead: it reduces admin when the time comes, covers the finances in advance and gives loved ones an expert contact to help them through the process from the moment one is needed.
Our friendly team is here to answer your questions from 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday. Give them a call on 0808 169 7090. If you're ready to buy a plan, you can call our team or buy online.
If you’d prefer to talk to someone in person, you can find the details of the closest partner in our UK-wide network of local, independent funeral directors by using the search tool on our Funeral Directors Near Me page. Or, just pop in wherever you see the Golden Charter seal.
