SIMON BROWN: Having a final say in your will

September was wills month and hopefully everybody either made one or ensured their will remains an accurate reflection of how they want their assets divided.

But your death raises other questions, such as how you want your body to be dealt with. You may wish to be buried in a particular place before a big wake, or prefer a quiet funeral followed by cremation and the scattering of your ashes  somewhere special?

You could include this in your will, but it’s not really the document’s purpose, and if you change your mind you’ll need to update your will and that’s messy.

What you need is a letter for when you die, and here’s what I include.

Details of your burial are important. I also include small things I own that I want given to certain people. They have sentimental value only and  they’d clutter a will, so they fit perfectly.

My letter contains details of my assets: what they are, where they are held, and  account details. Yes, the estate should trace all of these, but it’s easier with an up-to-date list. This is especially important if you have nontraditional assets such as an offshore crypto account or krugerrands buried in the garden.

Details of my LastPass account are in my letter. LastPass manages my passwords, so this enables my heirs to access all accounts (such as social media) and close or archive them.

Here we have to be careful: the master password needs to be safe. So make sure this letter is really secure.

Password managers allow a nominated family member (included in the subscription) to request access to my vault. I can reject the request, but if I do not do so within a defined period LastPass will let them in. It’s a bit like a dead man’s handle and a great way to securely store and pass on passwords.

In fact, a lot of the data in your letter could be included in a password vault such as LastPass.

The letter could also be a physical document or a password-protected file on your computer. Just make sure your family knows how to find and access it.  

Messages to family members could be included in the letter, or you can leave video messages for them. But remember to include the password for your phone and computer(s) in your letter.

Since I manage the household investments, my letter also recommends people who can take over that responsibility on my wife’s behalf.

This list is not exhaustive. Include anything that will make your death easier for your family to deal with.