The checklist
What should you put in a Life Box?
No two households are identical, and nobody needs everything on this list. Use it as a map: work through what applies, skip what doesn't, and come back to the rest.
139 things worth recording, across 12 categories. Jump to a section:
Identity
The documents that prove who you are. Needed constantly in life, and immediately by anyone acting for you.
- Birth certificate
- Passport and expiry date
- Driver's licence
- Provincial health card
- Social Insurance Number
- Citizenship or permanent residency documents
- Immigration and landing records
- Marriage certificate
- Divorce order or separation agreement
- Legal name-change documentation
- Indian Status card, if applicable
- Professional licences and designations
Family
The relationships that live almost entirely in someone's head.
- Spouse or partner: legal name and date of birth
- Children and their dates of birth
- Dependants and anyone you support
- Guardianship intentions for minor children
- Parents and siblings with contact details
- Emergency contacts, in the order you'd want them called
- People who should be told quickly
- Anyone who should not be contacted
- Family relationships that aren't obvious from documents
Financial
Not balances — what exists, and where. Enough that someone could find it.
- Chequing and savings accounts
- Which account household bills come from
- Investment accounts and where they're held
- RRSPs
- TFSAs
- RESPs
- RRIFs
- Workplace pension plans
- Pensions from former employers
- CPP and OAS details
- Credit cards
- Lines of credit
- Loans and financing agreements
- Mortgages, lender and renewal dates
- Recurring payments and automatic withdrawals
- Safety deposit box and where the key is
- Recent tax returns and who prepares them
- Bookkeeper or accountant
- Financial advisor or planner
Insurance
Insurers generally don't know when something happens. A policy nobody knows about is a policy nobody claims.
- Life insurance: insurer, policy number, coverage, beneficiaries
- Group life coverage through an employer or association
- Home or tenant insurance
- Auto insurance
- Disability coverage
- Critical illness coverage
- Extended health and dental
- Travel insurance and credit-card coverage
- Business insurance
- Pet insurance
- Insurance broker's name and contact
Legal
Life Box records that these exist and where the originals are. It does not create them, and it isn't legal advice.
- Will, and where the signed original is kept
- Power of attorney for property or finances
- Personal directive, representation agreement, mandate or health-care proxy (the name depends on your province)
- Trust documents
- Marriage, cohabitation or separation agreements
- Shareholder and partnership agreements
- Court orders that still apply
- Your lawyer's name, firm and contact details
Property
Homes, vehicles, land and the practical details that go with them.
- Home address and ownership structure
- Title or deed information
- Mortgage lender, account number and renewal date
- Property tax account
- Condo or strata corporation and fees
- Second properties, cottages and land
- Rental properties and tenant details
- Vehicles with VINs and registration
- Trailers, boats and recreational vehicles
- Storage units and access codes
- Valuable possessions and appraisals
- Where physical keys and spare keys are kept
- Alarm codes and monitoring company
- Utility accounts and who they're under
Healthcare
What a hospital, a caregiver or a family member would need to know quickly.
- Health card number and province
- Family physician
- Specialists you see
- Current medications and dosages
- Allergies and reactions
- Ongoing conditions and relevant history
- Pharmacy
- Dentist and optometrist
- Medical devices and equipment
- Care preferences and where your directive is recorded
- Organ donation intentions
Business
If you own a company, its continuity information is often more urgent than your personal information.
- Incorporation documents and minute book location
- Shareholders and directors
- Signing authority
- Business banking and who can access it
- Corporate lawyer
- Accountant and bookkeeper
- Payroll provider and pay cycle
- Key contracts, clients and suppliers
- Leases and equipment financing
- Software, domains and administrator accounts
- Key employees and who should be told first
- Written continuity instructions for the first week
- Buy-sell or succession arrangements
Digital life
The point isn't to dump every password somewhere. It's to record which accounts matter so nothing important goes dark.
- Primary email accounts — the ones that reset everything else
- Password manager and how it can be recovered
- Phone and carrier account
- Cloud storage and photo libraries
- Domains and websites
- Social accounts and what you'd want done with them
- Streaming and subscription services worth cancelling
- Loyalty and rewards programs with real balances
- Cryptocurrency holdings and how they're secured
- Devices and how they're unlocked
- Two-factor recovery codes and where they're stored
People to call
Often the single most useful page in the whole thing.
- Lawyer
- Accountant
- Financial advisor
- Insurance broker
- Employer or HR contact
- Business partners
- Family physician
- Funeral provider, if arrangements exist
- Trusted family contacts
- Neighbour who holds a key
- Trades and maintenance contacts you rely on
Estate and final wishes
The decisions that make a difficult time simpler for the people handling it.
- Executor, estate trustee or liquidator — and whether they've agreed
- Alternate representative
- Beneficiaries named on registered accounts and insurance
- Burial, cremation or memorial preferences
- Prepaid or preplanned arrangements
- Charitable wishes
- Specific possessions and who they should go to
- Pet care arrangements
- People to notify
- Obituary preferences
- Letters and messages for the people you love
The things only you know
Documents can't explain a household. This is the category people skip, and it's often the most valuable.
- Where the safe is and what the combination is
- Which drawer holds the important paperwork
- Household routines and standing appointments
- Pet routines, vet and medications
- How the heating, water shut-off and breaker panel work
- Seasonal maintenance nobody else does
- Context around assets — what something is and why it's held
- Family history and traditions worth keeping
- Things you'd want said that don't belong in any legal document
Where to start
If this list feels long, start with four things: your will and where the original is, your life insurance, your primary bank, and the people you'd want called. Everything else is improvement rather than emergency.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Terminology and legal requirements differ across provinces and territories — speak to a lawyer about your own situation. Keep original documents such as a signed will, birth certificate or title safely in physical form; a copy is not a replacement.