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So, she put together a binder of all the important documents her husband and two teenage daughters would need should something go wrong.

“I’m the person who manages all our finances at home,” says Stanley, “and I just thought, ‘if something happens to me, my husband has nowhere to start because all of this information is in my head.’” 

A so-called ‘death binder’ holds all of your family’s important documents, and should be a part of every family’s estate planning tool kit, says Stanley.

Erin Bury, co-founder and CEO of online estate planning platform Willful, agrees.

“The idea is to include any documents or information that would make it easier for your family to close up your life or manage things in the event of an emergency … and to streamline the estate settlement process,” says Bury. “Ideally, your executor and any other trusted family members would have access, but there may be sensitive information in it — for example, the contents of your will — so ultimately, you just need to ensure that your executor will have access when the time comes.”

Bury says some obvious documents to include in your death binder — physical or digital — are your will, power of attorney documents and life insurance paperwork.

Less obvious items to include, says Bury, are a list of important contacts that can include your financial adviser or accountant, as well as a list of your assets and liabilities.

“This saves your executor from searching through old tax returns and mailboxes to figure out where you have financial accounts,” says Bury.

A list of subscriptions or accounts that would need to be cancelled and funeral and burial wishes should also be included in the binder.

Bury says you can get even more detailed on what you want to include in the binder, from instructions on household maintenance to a list of digital assets and accounts. 

“Our digital footprint is often excluded from end-of-life or emergency folders, and this can cause huge headaches for your family or executor,” says Bury. She recommends listing accounts you use, like financial institutions, retailers, emails and social media profiles. “Have you appointed a legacy contact on your Apple or Google accounts or Facebook profile?”

“It’s not just about access, though,” says Bury. “It’s about your legacy: Would you want your Facebook or Instagram profile to stay active or be deleted? Would you want your family to post something on your behalf?”

Leaving instructions on how you would like your digital legacy maintained can save time and confusion for your family.

For Stanley, her death binder needed to include more than just finances. At the time of her surgery, Stanley’s daughters were 15 and 10. Her eldest was in high school, completing volunteer hours. “So I wanted to make sure that her tracking sheet for her volunteer hours was in there … their immunization records and copies of their passports, just again, stuff that mom usually takes care of on a daily basis,” says Stanley. “When’s the next child’s doctor visit, or what pharmacy did we pick up their inhalers from?”

Other considerations are instructions for household maintenance and caretaking instructions for your pets, such as contacts for their veterinarian or immunization records. 

If compiling a binder from scratch sounds overwhelming, try working on it by one section at a time. Stanley says some important sections include finances, important documents (such as a legal will or property purchase agreements) and health care wishes (such as end-of-life instructions).

After you’ve put together a death binder, make sure to review it on a regular basis.

“While some of the items in a death binder might change often — for example, a list of your digital subscriptions — it’s realistic to review this binder annually to record any changes,” says Bury.