Articles
Blog
Short, practical answers to the questions families ask us most.
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after loss
How to Assume a Mortgage After a Death
Updated
Inheriting a home usually means inheriting the loan. Which loans you can formally assume, what federal law protects, and the steps to take.
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after loss
How to Find Out If You Are Owed an Inheritance
Updated
Most unclaimed inheritances go unclaimed because nobody told the heir. Free ways to check probate records, unclaimed property, and life insurance.
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state
How to Register an Advance Directive
Updated
Registering an advance directive is voluntary and it is how providers find your wishes fast. Which states run a registry, and how to file, update, or revoke.
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after loss
How to Claim Unclaimed Money After Someone Dies
Updated
You found the money. Here is what happens after you file — how long it takes, why claims stall, and how to handle it when more than one person inherits.
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state
How to Make a Medical Power of Attorney in Your State
Updated
A medical power of attorney names the person who decides for you if you cannot. What your state calls it, how to make one, and the mistakes that void it.
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after loss
How to Find Unclaimed Money After Someone Dies
Updated
Free, official ways to search every state and federal source for money owed to someone who has passed — what you need, and who is allowed to claim.
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What Goes in a Legacy Binder
Updated
A plain-English list of everything to put in one binder so your family can find your accounts, papers, and wishes without you — and what to leave out.
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after loss
The Inherited IRA 10-Year Rule
Updated
Most people who inherit an IRA have ten years to empty it. Who gets an exception, what a spouse can do, and the penalty for missing the deadline.
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How to Update Your Retirement Account Beneficiaries
Updated
Your retirement account follows the beneficiary form, not your will. How to find it, change it, and fix the mistakes that send money to the wrong person.
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after loss
What Happens to a 401(k) or IRA When Someone Dies
Updated
When someone dies, a 401(k) or IRA goes to whoever is named on the account — not through the will. The rules for spouses, children, and estates, simply.
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after loss
What Happens to a Pension or Annuity When Someone Dies
Updated
A pension and an annuity are income, not an account balance. What the family receives depends on the payout option chosen when payments began.
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state
What Is a Living Trust and Do You Need One
Updated
A living trust lets your property pass to the people you choose without probate. What it does, what it costs, and whether you actually need one.
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digital
How to Set Up a Family Emergency Plan for Accounts
Updated
An emergency plan is not a password list. It is the answer to three questions: what accounts exist, how to get in, and who is supposed to act.
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How to Set Up a Filing System That Survives
Updated
Most filing systems fail one test: can a stranger find the right paper in ten minutes without you? A simple setup that passes that test.
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after loss
What to Do About a Lease or Rental When Someone Dies
Updated
A lease does not end when the tenant does. Who owes the rent, whether the estate can end it early, and how to clear out the home the right way.
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after loss
How to Cancel a Credit Card After a Death
Updated
Who can cancel a card after a death, why an authorized user differs from a joint holder, and the one thing never to do with the card.
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digital
How to Close Accounts You No Longer Use
Updated
Old accounts are not clutter. They are unlocked doors. A simple way to find them, close the risky ones, and keep what still matters.
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How to Prepare for a Hospital Stay
Updated
A hospital stay runs on two things: the paperwork they need and a small bag. Here is what to gather, who to tell, and what to do before you go.
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What to Keep in a Safe Deposit Box (and What Not To)
Updated
A safe deposit box protects against fire and theft, not against your family's needs. What belongs there, what never should, and why the difference matters.
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What to Tell Your Doctor About Your Wishes
Updated
Your medical wishes only work if someone knows them. Here is what to say to your doctor, what to put in writing, and how to start the conversation.
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How to Organize Your Medical Records
Updated
Your medical records are yours to request and keep. Here is how to get them, what to sort, and how to leave a one-page summary your family can use.
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digital
How to Download Your Data From Google, Apple, and Facebook
Updated
Export your data from Google, Apple, and Facebook while you still have access — the fastest way to get your photos and files to family.
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after loss
How to Find a Lost Life Insurance Policy
Updated
A free nationwide locator exists, but it only searches participating insurers — and the company contacts you, not the other way round.
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What to Do With Old Tax Returns
Updated
Old tax returns are not clutter, and they are not all the same. The IRS retention rules, which records outlive the return, and what to shred.
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after loss
What to Do With Someone's Belongings After They Pass
Updated
What to do with someone's belongings after a death: the order to work in, what you must never throw away, and how to give, sell, or donate the rest.
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state
What Is a Transfer on Death Deed?
Updated
A transfer on death deed passes a home to a named person without a court process — but only if it is recorded before you die. How it works, and its traps.
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state
How to Find Out If You Are Someone's Agent
Updated
A power of attorney can name you without telling you. Where to look for the paper trail, what the role covers, and when your authority ends.
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state
How to Settle a Small Estate Without Full Probate
Updated
Many modest estates can be settled with a short form instead of a court process. What counts as small, what the form actually gives you, and what it excludes.
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state
How to Transfer a Vehicle Title After a Death
Updated
You cannot add a beneficiary to a car title after the owner passes. What the title says decides the route, and the loan is usually the real gate.
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digital
What to Do With Someone's Email Account
Updated
Email is the account that resets every other one, so it is the one to handle first. What each provider will and will not do — and the deadline nobody notices.
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digital
SMS or Authenticator App: Which to Use
Updated
SMS codes and authenticator apps are not equally safe, and neither stops a phishing page. What the difference actually is, and which one to turn on first.
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state
How to Get a Copy of Someone's Will
Updated
A will is filed with the court after a passing, which is what makes a copy obtainable. Where to look first, and what a copy does not give you.
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after loss
How to Write an Obituary (and What It Costs to Publish One)
Updated
An obituary is a short record of a life; a death notice is the paid version most families publish. How to write one, what to include, and how the cost works.
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state
What Is an Advance Directive and Who Needs One
Updated
An advance directive records your health care wishes and only takes effect when you cannot speak. Here is who needs one, and how to get your state's form.
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state
Advance Directive vs Living Will: What's the Difference?
Updated
They're not the same form. A living will says what treatment you want; a health care proxy says who decides. Both live inside one advance directive.
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digital
How to Set Up Emergency Access in Bitwarden
Updated
How Bitwarden emergency access works, what View and Takeover each allow, and the three requirements that decide whether it will actually be there.
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after loss
How to Cancel Subscriptions After Someone Dies
Updated
Streaming, gyms, apps, and cloud storage keep charging after a death. The order to find and cancel them — and the one account to save first.
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after loss
How to Close a Bank Account After a Death
Updated
Who can close a deceased person's bank account, what documents the bank will ask for, and the step-by-step order that avoids failed payments.
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Five Mistakes That Make a Will Useless
Updated
A will that cannot be found, was signed wrong, or is years out of date can fail entirely. The five problems that undo otherwise good intentions.
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digital
How to Back Up Two-Factor Codes So Nobody Gets Locked Out
Updated
Two-factor authentication protects your accounts and can lock your family out. How to save your backup codes somewhere that actually survives.
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How to Choose Who Handles Your Estate
Updated
Not necessarily the oldest child, and not necessarily your closest relative. The four qualities that matter, and why a backup is essential.
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state
How to Find Unclaimed Money in Your Name
Updated
States hold billions in forgotten accounts, refunds, and deposits. How to search for free — and how to spot sites charging for what is already free.
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after loss
How to Get Copies of a Death Certificate
Updated
Where to order certified copies, how many to get, what they cost, and why an informational copy is usually not accepted anywhere.
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How to Help Your Parents Organize Their Paperwork
Updated
A practical way to help an aging parent get their papers in order — without taking control, and without the conversation turning into a fight.
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digital
How to Leave Digital Passwords to Family
Updated
Use a password manager with an emergency contact, save your recovery codes, and tell one person where everything is. Here is exactly how to set it up.
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How to Make a Home Inventory for Insurance
Updated
Why claims get reduced, what adjusters actually ask you to prove, and the one policy detail that changes what you should write down.
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How to Organize Your Paperwork When You Don't Know Where to Start
Updated
You do not need a filing system. You need one afternoon and four piles. A step-by-step way to get your important papers in order.
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How to Prepare a Letter of Instruction
Updated
Not a will, and no substitute for one — but often the most useful page you will ever leave behind. What to include, and where to keep it.
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How to Review Your Plan Once a Year
Updated
Thirty minutes a year keeps your paperwork from going stale. What to check, when to do it, and why an outdated plan is worse than no plan.
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digital
How to Share a Password With Someone Safely
Updated
Sometimes you do have to hand over a login — to a spouse, a helper, or an agent. The safe ways to do it, and the ones that create new risks.
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digital
How to Store Digital Photos So They Survive
Updated
Photos are what families grieve over most. Where to keep them, how many copies, and the account setting that decides whether they last.
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after loss
How to Memorialize or Delete a Facebook Account
Updated
Facebook's two options after a death, what each one does, and the setting that has to be made in advance if you want either to be easy.
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after loss
How to Notify Social Security of a Death
Updated
Who reports the death, what happens to the payment for the month of death, and how to claim a one-time payment many families never ask for.
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digital
How to Make Sure Your Family Can Open 1Password
Updated
1Password has no emergency access feature. Family organizers, the Emergency Kit, and recovery codes cover it instead — plus one catch to know first.
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What a Medical Information Sheet Should Include
Updated
One page, eight items: allergies, medications, conditions, doctors, your healthcare agent, insurance. What belongs on it, and why the order matters.
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What Documents to Keep and For How Long
Updated
How long to keep tax returns, deeds, medical records, and everything else — plus the few papers you should never throw away, in plain English.
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What Documents Your Adult Children Need From You
Updated
Not everything — just a handful. What your children genuinely need to know, what they do not, and how to hand it over without losing your privacy.
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after loss
What to Do About a Mortgage When Someone Dies
Updated
A regular mortgage usually survives the borrower. A reverse mortgage does not, and its deadlines are strict. What to do in each case.
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digital
What Happens to Your Online Accounts When You Pass Away
Updated
Email, photos, banking, and social accounts each have their own rules. What actually happens to them, and what your family can and cannot do.
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digital
What Is a Digital Executor (and Do You Need One)?
Updated
The term is not a legal role, and you cannot appoint one in a will. What actually gives someone access to your accounts, and what to set up.
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state
What Is a POLST Form (and How Is It Different)?
Updated
POLST is a medical order, not an advance directive. What it does, who it is actually for, and why it cannot replace the paperwork you already have.
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state
What Is Probate and How Long Does It Take?
Updated
Probate is the court process that gives someone authority to settle an estate. What it involves, why it takes time, and when it can be avoided.
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What to Do Before You Travel: Leaving Your Paperwork in Order
Updated
A short checklist for leaving your affairs findable while you are away — and for the trip that does not go the way you planned.
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What to Do If You Are Named as Someone's Healthcare Agent
Updated
Being named is an honour and a job. What it involves, what you can and cannot decide, and the conversation worth having now rather than later.
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after loss
What to Do When Someone Dies: A First-Week Checklist
Updated
The first week has a short list of things that cannot wait — and a much longer list that can. What to do first, and what to safely put off.
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Where to Keep Your Will
Updated
Your will has to be findable by the right person at the right time. Where to keep the original, who should have a copy, and what never to do.
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Where to Store Important Documents
Updated
Three places handle almost everything: a fireproof home safe, a safe deposit box, and a password manager. Here's what goes where, in plain English.
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