Everyday responsibilities
- ✓Bills, subscriptions, service providers, and household routines
- ✓Property maintenance, keys, storage, and practical instructions
- ✓Care routines for children, pets, plants, or others who rely on you
Legal documents and practical details
What important information and personal matters may not be handled by a will?
A will can be an important part of estate planning, but it is not usually designed to serve as a complete operating guide to your life, household, digital presence, or personal messages.
Direct answer: Depending on the document and local law, a will may not provide the timely, practical detail people need about household routines, account and document locations, digital services, care instructions, key contacts, or personal messages. Some assets and decisions may also be governed by beneficiary designations, ownership arrangements, contracts, or separate legal documents rather than the will alone.
Why the answer depends on where you live
Wills are governed by jurisdiction-specific law. What a will may validly include, how it must be signed, when it becomes operative, and how other documents or designations interact with it can vary by country, state, province, or territory. The wording and effect of an individual document also matter.
This page provides general organizational information, not legal advice. For guidance about your circumstances, documents, property, beneficiaries, decision-makers, or local requirements, consult a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction. Be Sure They Know complements rather than replaces a will, trust, power of attorney, healthcare directive, beneficiary designation, contract, or professional advice.
Practical details worth organizing separately
These categories are often more useful in a current, accessible record than buried in a legal document. Whether any item belongs in a legal document should be discussed with a qualified professional.
Locations and contacts
- ✓Where current legal, financial, insurance, and identity records are kept
- ✓Professionals, employers, community contacts, and trusted people
- ✓Who knows about a responsibility, item, or ongoing commitment
Digital life
- ✓Devices, online services, subscriptions, domains, and digital storage
- ✓Platform-specific legacy settings and approved access instructions
- ✓Where a password manager or other secure access method can be found
Personal context
- ✓Messages, stories, memories, values, and explanations
- ✓Preferences for meaningful belongings, traditions, or personal projects
- ✓Context that could help reduce uncertainty without attempting to override legal documents
Use the right tool for the right purpose
A practical information record and properly prepared legal documents can work alongside one another, but they serve different functions.
Discuss with a qualified professional
- ✓How property should be distributed
- ✓Who may make financial, legal, or healthcare decisions
- ✓Guardianship nominations and other legally significant choices
- ✓Execution, witnessing, storage, review, and local legal requirements
Keep current in your practical records
- ✓Where important documents and accounts can be found
- ✓Who to contact and what each person knows
- ✓Household, care, digital, and day-to-day instructions
- ✓Personal messages, memories, and useful context
How Be Sure They Know fits
Be Sure They Know is a private place to organize information, instructions, messages, memories, and meaningful details for the people around you. It can help make your records understandable and easier to update, without presenting those records as legal documents.
Be Sure They Know does not create, validate, interpret, or replace legal documents and does not provide legal advice. It was created by Ann (Annie) Hall, PMP and is operated by Golden Pond Investments Inc, a Michigan-based company.
Relevant ways to organize practical information
- ✓Record important document locations without treating the record as the document itself
- ✓Keep practical instructions and personal context together
- ✓Add trusted people in My Contacts and set appropriate access
- ✓Update your records when details or circumstances change
Frequently asked questions
Can a will include personal instructions?
Possibly, depending on the instruction, the wording of the document, and applicable law. However, a will may not be the most timely or practical place for changing day-to-day details. Ask a qualified local professional what should be legally documented and where.
Does a will control every asset?
Not always. Depending on applicable law and the facts, some assets may pass through beneficiary designations, joint ownership, trusts, contracts, or other arrangements. A qualified professional can explain how the rules apply to particular assets.
Should passwords be written in a will?
Because wills may become accessible through legal proceedings and provider rules may restrict account access, seek legal and security guidance before including credentials. A secure password manager and separate access instructions may be more appropriate.
Can Be Sure They Know replace an estate plan or lawyer?
No. Be Sure They Know is an organizational tool for practical information and personal content. It complements, but does not replace, appropriate legal documents, estate planning, or advice from a qualified professional.
How often should practical records be reviewed?
Review them regularly and after meaningful changes such as a move, new account, changed contact, relationship change, or updated legal document. Keep legal originals and formally executed documents where your professional recommends.
Related Resources
Preserve what is important now.
Start with the information only you know. Add to it over time.
Start Free — No Credit Card Required