The American Final Affairs Organizer

One book. Everything they will be asked for.

When someone dies, the people who loved them spend the first weeks hunting for information: which bank, which policy, where the deed is, what he would have wanted at the service. Most of it lives in one person's head. This book gets it onto paper while there is time.

Twelve printed tabs, findable with the book closed

Each of the twelve sections has a tab printed on the edge of the page, at a different height. Close the book and you can see all twelve. Open it straight to the one you need. Nothing to assemble, no stickers, no dividers to buy.

Written for the United States

Social Security and Medicare. Medicaid. 401(k) and IRA beneficiaries. VA benefits and the DD-214 that unlocks them. The state DMV for vehicle titles. The three credit bureaus. If you have tried one of the popular end-of-life planners and found it asking for a National Insurance number, this is the one written for your paperwork.

What is inside

• Start Here. Where this book is kept, and who knows about it.
• About Me. The identity facts every office will ask for, including the mother's maiden name that Social Security and funeral homes both want.
• People to Contact. Who to call first, the professionals, and everyone else.
• Documents and Where They Are. Not the documents. The map to them.
• Money and Accounts. Banks, retirement, pensions, investments, debts.
• Insurance and Benefits. Life, health, long-term care, property, VA.
• Property and Vehicles. Deeds, titles, and who should have what.
• Bills and Subscriptions. What must keep being paid, and what to cancel.
• Digital Accounts. Email first, then everything else.
• Health and Care Wishes. Who speaks for you, and where your directives are.
• My Funeral or Memorial. Service, pallbearers, music, readings, flowers, obituary.
• For My Family. A checklist for the first days, and pages for whatever you want to say.

A deliberate omission

There is no place in this book to write a password. A notebook that lists a bank login beside an account number is a gift to anyone who finds it. What this book records is which accounts exist and where the password list or password manager can be found. That is what a family actually needs, and it is far safer.

Made to be written in

8.5 by 11 inches and 144 pages, with lines spaced nearly half an inch apart so there is real room to write. Every page is a field, a table or a place to write. No decorative filler.

An organizer, not a legal document. It does not create or replace a will, a trust, or an advance directive. For those, see a licensed attorney in your state.