Key Contacts and Locations: the one-page list your family will thank you for
Key Contacts and Locations is a plain list of who to call and where things are kept. It names the people who help you with money, health, and paperwork — your attorney, your accountant, your insurance agent — and the places your family might never think to look, like a safe deposit box or a storage unit. It isn't a legal document. It's a map.
Why it matters
The best documents in the world don't help if nobody can find them, or if nobody knows the people who know about them. When something happens, your family is usually tired, sad, and working from memory. A list like this saves them from calling around, guessing which bank, or paying someone to hunt down what you already had.
It also helps while you're still here. If you're in the hospital for a week, the person helping you can pick up the phone and reach the right people without a scavenger hunt.
What to gather
Work down this list and fill in what you actually have. Names and phone numbers are enough — you don't need account details.
- Your estate attorney, and where the signed originals of your will or trust are kept.
- Your accountant or tax preparer, and where past returns live.
- Your insurance agent, and your financial advisor if you have one.
- Your primary doctor and usual hospital, especially if you have medical orders on file.
- Your bank branch, plus the location and key for any safe deposit box.
- Any storage unit — address, unit number, and where the key or code is.
- The funeral home, if you've made arrangements ahead of time.
- Your VA contact and where your DD-214 is filed, if you served.
- A trusted neighbor, your landlord or HOA, and whoever cares for your pets.
Some of these won't apply to you. If you have no trust, no storage unit, or you never served, skip those lines with a clear conscience.
Good to know
This is not a password list. Keep account numbers, PINs, and passwords off of it, and just write down where those things are kept instead. And a common surprise: a safe deposit box doesn't automatically open for your family the moment you're gone. What the bank requires can differ, and rules vary by state — so it's worth asking your bank now and writing the answer on your list.
Keep it safe
Once your list is written, store it in your Hoovalu vault and choose who in your Circle can open it. Update it whenever you change advisors, banks, or addresses.
Related reading
This article is general education, not legal advice.