End-of-Life Planning Checklist: Everything to Sort, in Order (Printable)

An end-of-life planning checklist is a list of the decisions and papers that let your family act for you if you are very ill or after you die. Do it in this order:

1. Name who speaks for you.
2. Write down your care wishes.
3. Make a will.
4. Name who handles your money.
5. List your documents and accounts.
6. Record your funeral wishes.
7. Sort your digital life.
8. Tell people where it all is.

You do not need to do it all in one weekend. One step a week is a good pace. You can print this page and tick each box as you go. This is general information, not legal advice.

Why does the order matter?

Ellen Goodman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, cared for her mother through Alzheimer's disease for many years. They had never talked about end-of-life care. So in the end, every decision fell to Ellen.

"I realized only after her death how much easier it would have all been if I heard her voice in my ear as these decisions had to be made," she said (The Conversation Project). She went on to found The Conversation Project.

Most people start with the will, because it feels the most official. But a will only works after you die. The hardest moments for families often come before that. A stroke, a crash or a fast illness can leave you alive but unable to speak. That is why this checklist starts with who speaks for you.

Most adults have not done even that first step. A review of 150 US studies found that only about 1 in 3 adults had any advance directive (Yadav et al., Health Affairs, 2017). An advance directive is a legal paper about your future health care.

Step 1: Who will make decisions if you cannot?

This person speaks to doctors for you if you cannot speak for yourself.

• Choose one person, and a backup. Pick someone calm, who will follow your wishes, not their own.
• Ask them, and tell them what matters to you.
• Make it legal.
  • In the US: a health care proxy or durable power of attorney for health care. Most states provide free forms (CaringInfo).
  • In England and Wales: a lasting power of attorney (LPA) for health and welfare. It only works once registered. Registration costs £92 unless you qualify for a reduction (GOV.UK).
  • Scotland, Northern Ireland, Canada and Australia have their own versions. Search your government's site for "power of attorney" or "advance care planning."
• Give your doctor a copy.

Our guide on how to choose a health care proxy helps you pick the right person.

Step 2: What care would you want, and not want?

This step writes down your wishes, so your decision-maker is not guessing.

• Think about values first. What makes a day worth living? What do you fear most? Where would you want to be at the end?
• Then think about treatments, such as CPR, a breathing machine or a feeding tube.
• Write it down in a legal form.
  • In the US: a living will, often part of your state's advance directive form.
  • In England and Wales: an advance decision to refuse treatment, if you want to refuse specific treatments.
• If you are seriously ill or frail, ask your doctor about a medical order such as a POLST or a DNR. These are signed by a doctor and tell emergency teams what to do.
• Talk to your family. A form helps. Hearing it from you helps more.

For step-by-step help, read how to write a living will and the difference between an advance directive and a living will.

Step 3: Who gets what after you die?

This step is your will.

• List what you own and owe.
• Decide who gets what, and what happens if someone dies before you.
• Choose an executor, the person who carries out your will, and ask them first.
• Name a guardian for any children under 18.
• Make the will. Use a lawyer, an online service or a charity scheme. In the US, compare online will makers and their prices. In the UK, see free and low-cost wills.
• Sign it properly, with the right witnesses for where you live.
• Check your beneficiary forms on life insurance, pensions and retirement accounts. These pass outside the will.

If you skip this step, the law decides. Read what happens if you die without a will.

Step 4: Who handles your money if you cannot?

A will does nothing while you are alive. If you are ill for months, someone still needs to pay the bills.

• Name a financial decision-maker.
  • In the US: a durable power of attorney for finances (NIA).
  • In England and Wales: a lasting power of attorney for property and financial affairs. It can be used as soon as it is registered, with your permission (GOV.UK).
• Tell your bank who it is, if your bank allows it.
• Give permission in advance for your doctor, lawyer or bank to speak to your helper. The NIA notes this is different from naming a proxy, and may need its own form.

Step 5: Where are your papers and accounts?

This is the step most families miss. A will says who gets the money. It does not say where the money is.

The NIA suggests keeping these in one place (NIA):

Personal

• Full legal name, date and place of birth, Social Security or national insurance number
• Where to find birth, marriage, divorce and citizenship certificates
• Names and numbers of close family, friends, doctors, lawyer and financial adviser

Money

• Bank and credit union accounts
• Pensions, retirement accounts and investments
• Insurance: life, home, car, long-term care, with policy numbers
• Debts: mortgage, loans, credit cards, and when they are paid
• Where the will, property deeds, car title and safe deposit box key are

Health

• Current medicines (update this often)
• Copies of your advance directive and any medical orders
• Health insurance details

Keep it in a folder, a drawer or a fireproof box. If your papers are in a bank safe deposit box, keep copies at home. Our guide to building an "in case of death" binder shows what goes in each section.

Step 6: What do you want for your funeral?

You do not have to buy anything now. Just decide and write it down.

• Burial, cremation or another choice?
• A service, a memorial, or nothing formal? Where?
• Religious, spiritual or cultural traditions you want followed.
• Music, readings and who should speak.
• Organ or body donation. In the US, you can register when you renew your driving licence or online, the NIA says.
• Budget, and how it will be paid.
• Give copies to your family. The NIA suggests also giving one to your lawyer, if you have one.

Our guide to planning your own funeral walks through each choice.

Step 7: What about your phone, photos and accounts?

Your digital life can lock your family out of photos, money and memories.

• List your important online accounts: email, banking, photos, social media and subscriptions.
• Set up legacy contacts where the service allows, such as Apple and Google.
• Decide what happens to social media: memorialise, delete or keep.
• Store passwords safely, such as in a password manager, and tell one person how to reach it. Do not put passwords in your will. In many places a will becomes public after probate.
• Cancel or hand over paid subscriptions.

Read who gets your photos and voice messages when you die for the steps on each platform.

Step 8: Who needs to know where it all is?

The best plan fails if nobody can find it.

• Tell your decision-makers and executor where your papers are. The NIA says you do not need to share the details, only the location.
• Give copies of your health papers to your doctor and decision-maker.
• Have the talk. Our guide on talking to your family about your wishes gives scripts to start. If you are the adult child, see how to talk to ageing parents.
• Set a review date. The NIA suggests once a year and after big life changes, such as a divorce, a move or a new diagnosis.

Free checklists vs the Planning Library: which do you need?

You can do all of this for free. Good free options include:

• This page. Print it and tick the boxes.
• The National Institute on Aging's checklist of documents and steps (NIA).
• The AARP Foundation's free Personal Estate Planning Kit, offered through its gift planning site (AARP Foundation).
• The Conversation Project's free guides for starting the talk and choosing a proxy (The Conversation Project).
• CaringInfo's free state forms for advance directives.

A checklist tells you what to do. It does not give you the pages to write it all in. That is what the Complete Planning Library is for. Its End-of-Life Planning Kit includes a My Wishes Worksheet and an Important Documents and Accounts Organizer. It also has funeral and memorial planning pages, a digital life inventory, a "Where to Find Everything" sheet, family conversation pages and a 30-day action plan. It costs $39, once.

It is not a will or a legal form. It does not replace a lawyer. It is for people who want everything in one place and are ready to sit down and fill it in. If you only need a list to work from, this free page is enough.

Not sure where you stand? Our free end-of-life readiness check takes a few minutes and shows which steps you still need.

The honest lesson

Planning for the end of your life is not giving up. It is the opposite. It is deciding, while you can, how you want to be treated and remembered.

Death is part of every life. Being prepared for it brings calm, both to you and to the people who will one day stand in your place.

Pick one box on this list. Tick it this week. Then pick the next one.