The complete plan, on one page

The volume of material on end-of-life planning is off-putting, and it is why people do nothing.

The actual list is short. This is it, in priority order, with the reasoning compressed.

The four documents

1. A will. Because without one the law decides, and its decisions frequently do not match yours. Particularly urgent if you have children, an unmarried partner, stepchildren, or a second marriage.

2. A power of attorney for finances. Because it can only be made while you have capacity, and the alternative is a court process that is slow, expensive and restrictive.

Arguably the most urgent document of all, because the window closes without warning.

3. A health and welfare power of attorney or healthcare proxy, where your jurisdiction provides for one.

4. An advance directive, recording what treatment you would and would not want.

The two conversations

5. With your healthcare proxy. The document gives them authority; the conversation gives them the information to use it. Without it, you have given someone an impossible job.

6. With your family. So that nobody is surprised, so that nobody has to guess, and so that whoever has to decide is not opposed by relatives who were never told.

Both of these matter more than the documents.

The one page

7. A location document. One page, dated, saying where everything is.

Where the will is and who holds it. Who the executor is. Where the advance directive is. Who the proxy is. Which banks and providers. Who your solicitor and accountant are. How to access your password manager. Where your funeral wishes are.

No credentials, no account numbers. Just locations, so it can be left somewhere obvious.

This is the single most useful thing you can produce, and it takes twenty minutes.

The digital items

8. Your phone passcode, recorded somewhere your executor can find it. This one item unlocks more than anything else.

9. A password manager with emergency access configured, and the master password recorded with your other documents.

10. A digital inventory — a list of accounts, with no passwords, stored openly.

11. Legacy contact settings configured on the platforms that offer them.

The financial checks

12. Every beneficiary designation, on every pension, life insurance policy and death-in-service benefit.

These frequently override the will, and they are the item most often out of date. Check them annually.

13. How your property is held, since jointly owned property with survivorship passes outside the will entirely.

This matters enormously in second marriages.

The wishes

14. Funeral wishes, written down. Burial or cremation, whether you want a service, music, and — importantly — explicit permission not to spend more than necessary.

15. A letter of wishes covering personal possessions and explaining anything unequal.

Possessions cause more family disputes than money.

16. Organ donation, registered and, more importantly, told to your family, since they will be asked regardless of what you registered.

17. Arrangements for any animals, agreed with a named person who has said yes.

The maintenance

18. An annual review, in the calendar, taking half an hour.

Most planning failures are maintenance failures.

The optional thing that people value most

19. A letter to the people you love, to be read afterwards.

Not a planning document. Consistently the thing bereaved people report as most valued, and consistently the thing people wish they had received and did not.

Where to start if the list is too long

Three things, this week:

Make a power of attorney, because the window closes.

Check your beneficiary designations, because they override the will.

Write the one-page location document, because it costs twenty minutes and it does more for your executor than anything else.

Then do the will, then the advance directive, then the conversations.

The point of all of it

Every item on this list exists to spare somebody something.

The power of attorney spares your family a court application. The advance directive spares your proxy an impossible decision. The location document spares your executor a fortnight of searching. The funeral wishes spare a grieving family an argument. The conversation spares everyone the guessing.

None of it is for you. That is the whole point, and it is why it is worth doing while it is easy.

This is general information, not legal or medical advice. Documents, terminology and legal effect differ by jurisdiction. Consult a qualified professional where you live.