How Ready Is Your Family for a Death? A 10-Minute Gut Check

Most people assume they are somewhat prepared. The test is simple: if you were gone tomorrow, could someone else actually do what needs doing, without you in the room to explain anything?

Answer these out loud. Count your yeses.

The Ten Questions

• 1. Could someone find your will today, without guessing?
• 2. Is there a written list of every bank, brokerage, retirement, and insurance account?
• 3. Could your family unlock your phone and your email?
• 4. Have you checked your beneficiary designations in the last three years?
• 5. Does anyone know your medical wishes if you could not speak for yourself?
• 6. Has anyone been told, out loud, that they are your executor?
• 7. Would your family know your funeral preferences, or would they be guessing?
• 8. Is there a list of the people who should be contacted?
• 9. Would your family know which subscriptions and auto-payments to cancel?
• 10. Does anyone besides you know where all of the above lives?

What Your Score Means

8 to 10 yeses. You are genuinely prepared, which puts you in a small minority. Book a yearly review so it stays true.

4 to 7. Typical, and workable. You likely have the legal documents but not the access and instructions. Start with questions 2, 3, and 10.

0 to 3. Your family would be doing archaeology during grief. Not a judgment, just a starting line. One hour this weekend changes the answer.

The Fastest Fixes, In Order

Question 10 is the multiplier: a perfect plan nobody knows about scores zero in practice. So tell one person, then close the two widest gaps.

• The account list (question 2): twenty minutes, and it removes weeks of detective work. Our 30-day checklist walks it step by step.
• Access (question 3): legacy contacts on your phone, email, and photos, plus a password manager with emergency access. See the password problem.

If you would rather be walked through all ten in order, Afterward Planning asks these questions gently, one at a time, and keeps the answers where your family will actually find them.