The end-of-life checklist that covers more than paperwork

An end-of-life checklist is a single, organised list of everything the people you love will need to find, decide and do, both before and after you are gone. Done well, it turns a frightening, scattered subject into a set of small, finishable tasks. Done badly, or not at all, it leaves your family hunting through drawers and inboxes during the worst week of their lives.

This is the practical heart of end-of-life planning. You do not need to complete it in one sitting. Work through it a section at a time, and tick things off as you go.

Legal and financial

• Write or update your will, and name an executor

• Set up a living will (advance directive) for your medical wishes

• Arrange financial and healthcare power of attorney

• List your bank, superannuation, pension and investment accounts

• Check and update beneficiaries on insurance and retirement accounts

• Note any debts, loans and recurring payments

Documents to gather

• Birth certificate, marriage or divorce papers, passport

• Property deeds, vehicle titles and loan documents

• Insurance policies (life, health, home, vehicle)

• Tax records and accountant details

• Will, living will and power of attorney documents

Medical and care wishes

• Your treatment and resuscitation wishes (in your living will)

• Your nominated healthcare proxy

• Organ and tissue donation decision

• Where you would prefer to be cared for

Your digital life

• A list of your online accounts and what should happen to them

• Access to your passwords through a password manager or sealed record

• Instructions for photos, social media and digital assets

• Any cryptocurrency or online financial accounts

Funeral and final wishes

• Your funeral or memorial preferences

• Burial or cremation choice

• Any prepaid arrangements and where the paperwork is

• Readings, music or requests for the service

Messages and legacy

• Letters or messages for the people you love

• The stories, values and reasoning you want remembered

• Who should be told, and how

When people say "get your affairs in order", this is usually what they mean: making sure the right documents exist and can be found. At a minimum:

• A will: directs who receives your property and names your executor.

• A living will: records your medical treatment wishes if you cannot speak.

• Powers of attorney: one for finances, one for healthcare.

• Beneficiary nominations: on insurance, superannuation and retirement accounts, which often override your will.

• A list of accounts and assets: financial and digital, so nothing is lost.

• A document locator: one note that says where each of the above is kept.

That last one matters more than people expect. The best documents in the world help no one if your family cannot find them.

If the full list feels overwhelming, work through it in this sequence. Each step is finishable on its own.

1. Start with the will. It is the foundation everything else builds on.

2. Add your medical wishes. Complete a living will and name a healthcare proxy.

3. Sort the money. List accounts, check beneficiaries, arrange financial power of attorney.

4. Map your digital life. Accounts, passwords, photos and assets.

5. Record your final wishes. Funeral preferences and any prepaid arrangements.

6. Write the document locator. One page telling your family where everything lives.

7. Leave your words. The messages and reasoning that the paperwork cannot hold.

Every checklist above is about logistics: documents, accounts, decisions. They are essential, and ticking them off is genuinely one of the kindest things you can do for your family. But they all share the same blind spot. They preserve what you owned and what you decided, and almost nothing of who you were.

The accounts get closed. The forms get filed. And then the family is left with the part no checklist contains: your voice, your reasoning, the stories only you could tell, and the answer to "what would they have wanted?"

Afterlife AI is the line on the checklist that holds the rest together. Alongside your documents, you can record your memories, values and messages in a private, structured Persona, built while you are here to decide. It is consent-first, encrypted, and protected by Executor Lock, so it is only ever released the way you intended. The paperwork settles your estate. Your Persona keeps the person.